The Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team’s Alessandro Botturi, in partnership with Riders for Health (powered by Two Wheels for Life), incredibly managed to overcome a fever and a navigational mistake to recover and finish Stage 5 of the Africa Eco Race in 37th, ensuring he remains second in the general classification and firmly in the hunt for victory.

After winning Stage 4 and re-taking the overall lead of the 16th edition of the Africa Eco Race (AER), in the process, opening up a gap of two minutes and 50 seconds over his main rival Jacopo Cerutti, even though he was suffering from a high fever and flu, Botturi’s physical condition worsened ahead of Stage 5. Despite this, the Italian, who had not finished outside of the top two in the previous four stages, remained determined to make it through the final stage before the rest day, where he would benefit from the extra time to allow him to recuperate.

Leading off a tricky fifth stage, the 48-year-old had a 74 km liaison from Layoune to the start of the 431 km timed special before a 124 km liaison to the bivouac by the sea in Dakhla. Challenging terrain, including the endless dunes of the southern Moroccan desert, made navigation extremely tricky for all competitors, and Botturi, along with Cerutti and several other riders, made a navigational error at the 127 km mark that saw him lose over an hour.

After realising his mistake, he quickly retraced his steps and rejoined the main route, mounting a superb comeback. Pushing as hard as he physically could on his Ténéré World Raid GYTR, the two-time winner of the AER managed to complete the special in 37th place, with a time of four hours, 58 minutes and forty seconds, as he and Cerutti made it to the end of the stage together, with Botturi conceding two minutes and 58 seconds to his rival.

This meant that, once again, Cerutti and Botturi swapped places in the general classification, but more importantly, the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team rider held on to second place, just one minute and 30 seconds off the lead, with a combined time of 20 hours, 59 minutes, and 10 seconds. Although he lost time, he remains over one hour and 20 minutes ahead of the next closest rival, with the race to Dakar already turning into an epic battle between the two Italian riders.

While the race leaders finished down the order, another Yamaha rider took full advantage to claim the stage victory. Nicolas Charlier, racing as a part of the Ténéré Spirit Experience team alongside Botturi, had already impressed by finishing fourth during the previous stage, but the Belgian pulled out all the stops to secure the stage win, his first in rally raid. In doing so, he moved up to sixth in the general classification, as he continues to impress in just his second AER.

After completing the Moroccan leg of the AER, all competitors now benefit from a rest day before they head into Mauritania for Stage 6 on the 6th of January, with a special stage of 172 km and over 531 km of liaisons, as they enter the heart of the Western Sahara desert.

Africa Eco Race Stage Results & General Classification

Alessandro Botturi – P2 Overall – 20h59m10s
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team
“Today was very tough. I woke up this morning feeling very sick, and I wasn’t sure I could ride, but I knew if I could make it through today, I would have an extra day to recover in Dakhla. I was nowhere near 100%, which led to me making a mistake with my navigation, but so did many of the other riders. Once I had realised my error, I was determined to make up for lost time, and I rode with Cerutti to the finish, giving it absolutely everything. In the end, while I conceded some time to him, it could have been a lot worse, and we are both locked neck and neck in the victory battle, with another seven stages to go. The focus is on trying to rest so I can be back to 100% for Stage 6 and ensure we can fight for the win right to the end!”

Marc Bourgeois
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team – Team Manager
“Even when you are an experienced rider like Alessandro, mistakes are very easy to make, especially when you are not feeling 100% and opening the stage in the vast expanses of the Sahara desert. When something like this happens, the key is to remain calm and not panic. Alessandro used all of his experience to recover, and he was not the only rider to make an error at that point, which shows how tough navigation was. We are proud of him, as he was feeling very sick, yet he never gave up and fought back superbly to remain in the battle for victory when it would have been easy to fall out of contention. He now has the rest day to recover and will come back fighting for Stage 6. I want to congratulate Nicolas, our Ténéré Spirit Experience rider, for his first rally raid stage win. He rode superbly during Stage 4 to secure fourth, but today, he went even better and produced a faultless performance when it was very easy to make a mistake. To see him win the stage and in the top six of the General classification shows you just how good he and the Ténéré World Raid GYTR are, especially because he beat much more experienced riders on 450cc single-cylinder bikes.”