Jacopo Cerutti and Aprilia wins 2025 Africa Eco Race
The 2025 Africa Eco Race is one for the books, as this year’s edition of the race was decided by a mere 26 seconds between two riders: Jacopo Cerutti onboard the Tuareg 660 and Alessandro Botturi onboard the Ténéré 700 (T7).
Bad luck for Yamaha
The Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team’s Alessandro Botturi, in partnership with Riders for Health (powered by Two Wheels for Life), missed out on the overall victory by just 26 seconds after a dramatic finish to the final timed stage at the Africa Eco Race. The Italian was on course for the win after an epic race-long battle before some plastic netting hidden under the sand got caught up in his wheels and chain, causing him to lose time and miss out on victory by the tiniest of margins.
“It was an incredible battle all rally with Jacopo, and we came so close to winning, but it was not meant to be. To suffer such lousy luck is unfortunate, but this can happen in rally. I was pushing as hard as I could, and everything was going to plan until about 20 km before the end of the stage; some plastic netting came from nowhere and got caught up in my bike. I tried my best to remove it, stopping a couple of times and losing time before I was able to get to the end. Sadly, it meant I had missed out on the win by just 26 seconds after a really long and challenging rally,” said Botturi.
Back to back win for Aprilia
Jacopo Cerutti and Team Aprilia Tuareg Racing write another memorable page of Africa Eco Race history. With an extraordinary win in the eleventh stage, Cerutti took the 2025 Africa Eco Race title, giving Team Aprilia Tuareg Racing their second consecutive title in this iconic rally raid.
“Today I started really well and I knew I would have to give one hundred percent to close the gap. It was a hard race, full of unexpected surprises, but the team and I knew how to react in every situation. I wish to dedicate this win to the team and their tireless efforts. Winning the Africa Eco Race for the second consecutive year is a dream,” said Cerutti.
Cerutti’s teammate, Francesco Montanari, finished the eleventh stage fourth overall, +4’03’’ behind the leader, and he is now forty-first in the overall standings, partly because of a DNF in the tenth stage. Marco Menichini, on the other hand, finished eighth overall, +8’04’’ behind the winner, consolidating his sixth place in the overall standings and also taking the win for the Under 25 category.
This second consecutive title and the positive results achieved by the Aprilia Tuareg Racing riders confirm the versatile features and reliability of the Tuareg Rally in an environment with extreme conditions, such as those experienced in the 2025 edition of the Africa Eco Race.
