Aprilia Tuareg won the Africa Eco Race 2024. The bikes of the Italian brand, ridden by Jacopo Cerutti and his team, arrived in triumph in Dakar at the end of the competition which follows the original route of the famous raid in the desert. Cerutti and Francesco Montanari had started as outsiders but in the end they got the better of the other contenders on the route that took them from Europe to Dakar via Morocco and Mauritania.
The development of Aprilia Tuareg
The Aprilia Tuareg, developed from the series product by Aprilia Racing with the technical collaboration of the Guareschi brothers' GCorse, faced African tracks and the desert for the first time. During 2023 he had prepared the approach to this race with successes, such as the Italian title in the Motorally or the podium in the Transanatolia rally in Turkey. The African desert on the original Dakar route is something else entirely but the Italian team still managed to triumph.
Definitive victories
The victory in the special tests of the first two days was determined and allowed Cerutti to accumulate and then manage the advantage against very strong opponents such as Botturi and Tarres, both on Yamaha, who constantly attacked in search of a comeback. Speed, perfect strategy and reliability of the Tuareg are the values that led Aprilia and Cerutti to the triumph in Dakar. For Francesco Montanari, an absolute rookie, the finish line in Dakar was the best result. To this he added two stage podiums, a constant presence in the upper areas of the special classifications and a great eighth place finish.
Aprilia Racing's satisfaction
All the satisfaction for Aprilia's triumph in the words of Massimo Rivola – CEO Aprilia Racing: “What Jacopo did, winning in Dakar, is unprecedented. It is a true, enormous sporting undertaking that celebrates a great champion, an exceptional Italian motorcycle, designed, developed and produced here in Noale and an incredible job done by Aprilia Racing and GCorse. Having led one of the most difficult races in the world from day one, in the face of very strong opponents, is an extraordinary sign of strength that went beyond all our expectations.”.
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