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Category: Superbikes
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AFTER HIS VICTORIOUS DÉBUT IN THE OPENING LEG, JACOPO CERUTTI TAKES ANOTHER BRILLIANT WIN ON THE SECOND DAY OF THE AFRICAN RAID
THE APRILIA TUAREG CONFIRMS ITS GREAT POTENTIAL ON A LONG AND TREACHEROUS SECTION, WITH AN INCREDIBLE 383 KM OF SPECIAL TRIALS
CONSISTENT IMPROVEMENT FOR FRANCESCO MONTANARI, EIGHTH
The Africa Eco Race delves ever deeper into the desert, crossing the legendary dunes of Merzouga, and Aprilia Tuareg is once again at the top. After the historic victorious début in the opening leg, Jacopo Cerutti finished ahead of the rest in the second stage as well, held yesterday between Boudnib and Mhamid.
On a long and treacherous leg, with an incredible 383 km of special trials where the riders tackled changing conditions, with rocky and extremely bumpy sections alternating with faster and smoother ones, also crossing over sand dunes, astride his Tuareg, Jacopo Cerutti put in a flawless performance, maintaining a pace that the others were unable to come close to. Behind him, the closest rivals were Pol Tarres, at 7 minutes, and Alessandro Botturi, more than 8 minutes behind, both on Yamaha.
It was also a positive day for Francesco Montanari who, on the second Tuareg competing on African soil, is beginning to size up an adventure which is entirely new for him. Eleventh in the opening stage, the rider from Como finished eighth in yesterday’s leg, despite a navigation mistake. This result moves him up to seventh place in the overall standings.
Today the third leg is one of the longest of the raid, which will take the riders from Mhamid to Assa - a total of 523 km, including 463 of special trials.
JACOPO CERUTTI
“It was a long and demanding leg. Starting first and blazing the trail for the other riders, I thought that they would catch up and overtake me, but instead I managed to maintain a good pace consistently, without making any mistakes, and another great win arrived! The first part was really tricky. It wasn’t simple riding with the cold and the sun low in the sky, especially because there were a lot of stones on the route. Then, we arrived on the dunes - always a beautiful landscape - followed by other truly difficult sections with lots of bumps, but even in these conditions, the bike gave me outstanding sensations. We have an even longer leg ahead of us today, so we’ll continue to give it our all!”
FRANCESCO MONTANARI
“Today I truly realised what it means to tackle a raid in Africa! More than 380 km of special trials are extremely long - seemingly infinite - but I am satisfied with the way I rode and the feeling with the bike is outstanding. I started off on the right foot and I navigated well for the entire leg. It’s a pity about the one mistake at a certain point that cost me a good deal of time, otherwise it could have gone even better. But that’s okay. Today will be another long and demanding day.”
For updates on all the news, follow the web page
www.aprilia.com/it_IT/aprilia-racing/aprilia-tuareg-rally/africa-eco-race/
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A HISTORIC RESULT FOR APRILIA, THE LAST ITALIAN BRAND TO WIN A LEG OF THE DAKAR IN 2012 AND NOW ONCE AGAIN PROTAGONIST IN RALLY RAIDS
IN HIS FIRST DESERT EXPERIENCE, FRANCESCO MONTANARI, ASTRIDE THE OTHER TUAREG IN THE RACE, FINISHES THE FIRST DAY WITH A GOOD 11TH PLACE
Aprilia officially returned to racing in the African desert yesterday, and they did it in grand style - with a win. Astride his Aprilia Tuareg, Jacopo Cerutti took a spectacular win in the first leg of the Africa Eco Race, from Nador to Boudnib, in Morocco.
It was a historic day for all of Aprilia Racing who, along with GCorse, launched the ambitious “Back to Africa” project less than one year ago with the goal of getting Aprilia back in the great African rally raids.
There was no better way for Aprilia to return to competing on the legendary African Desert tracks, where they had been protagonists in the period between 2010 and 2012 (to this day, Aprilia remains the last Italian brand to have won a leg in the Dakar, in 2012).
Credit for this milestone - besides the experience and speed of Jacopo Cerutti - goes to the great off-road capabilities of the standard factory Aprilia Tuareg, a bike which already won at its début in the Italian Motorally Championship and for which it took just a few months of development before proving to be immediately victorious in one of the most demanding rally raids in the world.
The first leg, 598 km long, had the riders busy with 174 km of special trials, at the end of which, Jacopo Cerutti managed to create a gap of almost 2 minutes ahead of his two most accredited rivals, Alessandro Botturi and Pol Tarres, both on Yamaha.
And, in his first ever desert racing experience, Francesco Montanari, with the other Aprilia Tuareg, finished the day with a good eleventh place, just over 15 minutes behind his more experienced teammate and rather close to the top-five finishers.
Today, the convoy will tackle the second leg, from Boudnib to Mhamid, for a total of 425 km, including 383 of special stages.
For updates on all the news, follow the web page
www.aprilia.com/it_IT/aprilia-racing/aprilia-tuareg-rally/africa-eco-race/
JACOPO CERUTTI
“It’s really great to begin this adventure ahead of the rest. As I said the day before we started, I had hoped to be out front in some of the legs and managing to do so straight away really energises us ahead of the coming days of racing. It was a leg without any great difficulties, with slow sections alternating with other, faster ones, and on fairly flat terrain, but complicated enough in terms of navigation. A lot of riders made some mistakes, whereas I probably did not make as many, which helped me. I was immediately at ease on the bike, which allowed me to set a good pace straight away and so, at the end of the day, this nice win came. Having taken Aprilia back to winning in the African desert makes me proud and I’m enjoying the moment, but my mind is already on tomorrow’s leg!”
FRANCESCO MONTANARI
“Being my first experience in this type of race, I am satisfied with yesterday’s result. I tried to make it a clean ride, without overdoing it, and that allowed me to maintain a good pace for the entire duration of the leg. The only thing that’s a pity is the navigation mistake in the initial phases. The dust kicked up by the rider who started ahead of me - who I was getting close to - made me miss a turn and that cost me a couple minutes. As for the rest, there were no particular problems. The bike works really well, so I'm looking forward to today’s stage with great confidence!”
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LAUNCHED LESS THAN A YEAR AGO, THE “BACK TO AFRICA” PROJECT IS ALREADY A REALITY: APRILIA IS ONCE AGAIN PROTAGONIST IN THE BIG RALLY RAIDS
THE TWO TUAREG MACHINES, DEVELOPED BY APRILIA RACING IN COLLABORATION WITH GCORSE, WILL TACKLE THE AFRICAN DESERT IN THE ABLE HANDS OF JACOPO CERUTTI AND FRANCESCO MONTANARI
AFTER THE EXTRAORDINARY TRIUMPH IN ITS DÉBUT IN THE ITALIAN MOTORALLY AND THE PODIUM IN THE TRANSANATOLIA RALLY, THE GOAL IS NOW THE LEGENDARY LAC ROSE OF DAKAR
THE OFFICIAL START IS FROM MONACO, FIRST LEG IN MOROCCO ON 2 JANUARY
Noale, 30 December 2023 - For Aprilia, it’s finally “Back to Africa”: the project announced less than a year ago to take the Aprilia brand back to the big African raids now comes to fruition with the participation of two Aprilia Tuareg machines in the 2024 edition of the Africa Eco Race, which will start officially today, 30 December, from Monaco.
For the entire Aprilia Racing department, which developed the competition version of the Tuareg in close collaboration with GCorse of the Guareschi brothers, this is a return to the first love, those off-road disciplines which were the Italian brand’s début in the world of competitions.
In addition, by taking part in the Africa Eco Race, Aprilia will once again be travelling through legendary places and routes, those of the historic African Dakar, thereby bringing to mind the successful experience of Aprilia’s last participation (the last Italian bike to win at the Dakar) in the most famous rally raid in the world, in the period from 2010 to 2012.
In the able hands of factory riders Jacopo Cerutti and Francesco Montanari, the Aprilia Tuareg developed for rally raids is built on the excellent technical base of the bike which, closely derived from the factory model, triumphed in its début in the Italian Motorally G-1000 class championship, with Jacopo Cerutti skilfully dominating in six of the eight trials held and taking a brilliant absolute victory against the lighter, specialised enduro single-cylinders in the Rally of Sardinia. An overwhelming year where Francesco Montanari also ended up on the final podium of the Italian championship, ranking third in the general standings.
Thanks to the experience gained in the Italian Motorally and the participation in September in the first international race, the Transanatolia Rally, with Cerutti winning one leg and finishing third overall, the development of the Aprilia Tuareg for the Africa Eco Race progressed quickly - proof of the outstanding off-road capabilities of the standard factory Tuareg.
In an initial stage, the focus was on the chassis architecture and then on finding the best possible engine performance in the prohibitive racing conditions anticipated. Last, but not least, the adoption of a supplementary fuel tank increased range, necessary for covering the long rally raid distances.
The Aprilia Tuareg competition version is fitted with Öhlins by Andreani suspension, a complete SC Project exhaust in titanium, and a specific Sprint Filter air filter.
After the official start in Monaco, bikes and equipment will ship out to Morocco where they’ll get down to business on 2 January, with the first of the 12 legs scheduled. The goal is to reach the legendary finish at Lac Rose, in Dakar, on 14 January.
JACOPO CERUTTI
“For me, it is fantastic to be able to bring a brand like Aprilia back to the desert. The Africa Eco Race will be a great adventure and a huge challenge for everyone. This will be true for me, as a rider, but also for the entire Aprilia Racing department and for the GCorse team. Over the past few months, we have all done an insane amount of work developing the bike, which is already extremely good in its base configuration. We feel like we are ready. We demonstrated a good pace in the tests we did in the desert, so we will certainly be able to hold our own. The first part of the race, in Morocco on harder terrain, could prove to be a bit more complicated, but I’m optimistic for the second week in the sand. I won’t hide the fact that I’d like to win some legs and stay ahead of some of our more favoured rivals, but beyond that, such a long race is so unpredictable that it’s hard to make any predictions in terms of the general standings. We will certainly be giving it our all!”
FRANCESCO MONTANARI
“Even though I am trying to stay calm, I’m sure that once I'm on the starting grid of the first trial, I’ll be overcome by a special emotion. This will be my first experience in such a long and demanding race and I wish to thank Aprilia for the huge opportunity they are giving me, as well as the Guareschi brothers for their continuous support. These have been extremely intense months, full of testing, races, and training to prepare for this event. As I said, this is my first time in such a long rally, so my absolute top priority is to finish the race, trying to ride my best but without overdoing it. It won’t be simple, because I’ll be trying giving to give it my all constantly in the race, but it will be important to ration my strength and not make any mistakes. I want to arrive at the finish line in Dakar at all costs and then, once there, we’ll take stock of how it went.”
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THREE-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH THE YOUNG AMERICAN STRUCTURE, ALREADY A PROTAGONIST IN NASCAR
Aprilia Racing has signed a three-year agreement with US outfit Trackhouse, already a major player in the NASCAR motorsport championship. Captained by former racer Justin Marks, the American team will bring the RS-GPs to the track as an Independent Team. Confirmed are riders Miguel Oliveira and Raùl Fernandez, in their second season riding the Italian prototypes.
A partnership that will see Aprilia Racing take charge of all technical aspects, collaborating closely with Trackhouse Racing on track and taking care of development during the season, through a dedicated structure that represents an important step forward in Aprilia's MotoGP project.
MASSIMO RIVOLA - CEO Aprilia Racing
"We are happy and proud to welcome Trackhouse into the Aprilia Racing family. What they have been able to build in a very short time in NASCAR is an extraordinary presentation card, which anticipates the potential of this partnership. This is thanks to Justin Marks and his team, whom I got to know through my long-time friend PJ Rashidi, and with whom we were immediately in sync both in terms of technical ambitions and marketing and communication developments in such an important market as the US. Our commitment will increase significantly, a responsibility we gladly take on because, I am sure, it will allow us to grow even more".
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A STOIC ALEIX FORGETS ABOUT HIS FRACTURED LEFT LEG AND FINISHES EIGHTH IN VALENCIA
MAVERICK, TENTH, PAYS THE PRICE FOR CHOOSING THE SOFT TYRE
FANTASTIC FIFTH PLACE FOR RAUL FERNANDEZ WITH THE BEST FINISH OF HIS CAREER
The final round of the 2023 season had Aprilia placing three RS-GP machines in the top ten. Aleix Espargaró, despite a fresh fracture to his left leg suffered one week ago in the Qatar GP, had a comeback ride from the twelfth spot on the starting grid all the way to sixth place. In the final battle, he finished eighth, a result beyond even the highest expectations, given his condition.
For Maverick Viñales, a protagonist throughout the weekend with pole position and the new track record, the race was conditioned by a questionable penalty levied for not having observed the black/orange flag condition during the warm-up session. Three positions on the grid, from first to fourth place, was the decision taken by Race Direction after Maverick had re-entered the track, with the approval of the marshals, and after verifying that there was nothing wrong with his RS-GP. The plume of white smoke which had alarmed the marshals was due to the evaporation of lubricant which had dripped onto the exhaust. In fact, the same RS-GP was then used in the race. His choice to go with the soft tyre at the rear, the only one on the grid to do so, further penalised Maverick who, after battling for podium positions in the opening stage, gradually lost positions in the finale.
Worth a mention is Raul Fernandez and his fantastic fifth place astride the Team RNF RS-GP, which is his best finish yet in his budding career.
Aprilia closes out its first season as a factory team with two victories by Espargaró (in the English GP and in Catalunya), and another podium from Aleix, as well as three podiums (all second place) for Maverick. In the Sprint Race, the Italian team took one win and two podiums. In 2023, Aprilia was the only team to have a one-two finish in a GP – the spectacular Barcelona race.
ALEIX
“It was extremely difficult today. I was in a lot of pain, especially in the second half of the race. The left-handers were a nightmare. I was unable to shift gears and the last three laps were terrible. In spite of it all, I am satisfied because up to five laps from the end, I stayed five or six seconds behind the leader. I was very fast, but in the last three laps I was losing as much as two seconds every lap. I’d like to end with a thought for my brother, Pol, who rode his last race today. He has always been a point of reference for me, and it was extremely emotional for me to share the track with him for the last time today.”
MAVERICK
“Unfortunately, we paid the price in the race for an unconventional decision. We chose the soft tyre because, looking at the data collected throughout the weekend, we had less spin and less wear than with the medium. Despite the spin being lower in the race, we had excessive wear which showed that this compound was not the right choice for 27 laps in a row.”
The final round of the season is also an opportunity to thank all those involved in Aprilia’s MotoGP project. From the team at the track, skilfully tackling an extremely demanding calendar without ever losing focus, to the Racing Department in Noale which supported the team’s efforts, presenting an innovative and fast RS-GP which is constantly being developed. And let’s not forget about the “world” that supports the MotoGP effort: the sponsors, the technical partners, and the fans who, supported and cheered us on throughout the 2023 season with impressive warmth. For all of them, we look forward to an even more thrilling and more competitive 2024 with Aprilia colours.
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