It’s been an amazing few years for Pol Tarrés and recent months have seen the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team rider continue to write one success story after another.
After winning the TransAnatolia race in 2023, this year has already seen Tarrés take third place at the Africa Eco Race in January, victory in the Morocco Desert Challenge in April and set a new altitude world record aboard his trusted Yamaha Ténéré 700.
Complete dominance in Morocco
After eight demanding stages and over 3000km of racing across some of the toughest terrain on the planet at the 2024 Morocco Desert Challenge, Tarrés triumphed in dominant style.
The Andorran charged to six stage wins including the first four and last two stages, finishing with a winning margin over his closest competitor of 2h 21’ 06’’, on his GYTR-equipped Ténéré 700 World Rally machine. This success saw him make history by becoming the first rider to secure victory at the event on a twin-cylinder adventure bike, beating his rivals on single-cylinder 450cc prototypes, which have previously dominated the race.
Rapid progression since 2022
The former hard enduro rider has only been competing in Rally-Raid since 2022, making his accomplishments in Morocco even more impressive.
Reflecting on that fruitful Moroccan mission, Tarrés commented, “It was my first rally victory in Africa, and it means a lot to me. My GYTR-kitted Ténéré 700 World Rally was amazing all rally and never missed a beat. I could attack on most stages because I had such a great feeling with the bike. The Morocco Desert Challenge certainly lived up to its tough reputation, but we did it, and we won, and I am delighted. Not just for me but for the whole team who have worked tirelessly to get us here.”
Interacting with Ténéré Spirit Experience clients
Referring to the Ténéré Spirit Experience clients who were with him at the Africa Eco Race in January and the Morocco Desert Challenge – including Stephane Poulet who impressively ended the Moroccan rally in a respectable 17th place overall – Tarrés said, “Having the customers with us at races is enjoyable because you can see they are having an incredible time, getting to see what Rally-Raid is really like and pushing themselves to improve their riding.”
He added, “Sometimes their ages and riding ability level varies a lot so it’s good to see what they get out of it and how much it means to them to be there with their Ténéré bikes like another member of our team. They get great support from our mechanics and crew and it’s cool to speak with them in the bivouac in the evenings and see their passion for riding.”
Always raising the level
Tarrés was also busy scaling new heights earlier in the year. Two years on from making history with an altitude world record onboard the Yamaha Ténéré 700, Tarrés returned to Chile in March and set the marker even higher.
Reaching an astonishing height of 6,677 metres with his Ténéré World Raid GYTR in full stage 3 setup, that was officially a new record for the highest altitude reached on a twin-cylinder bike. In the reconnaissance ride before that ultimately successful world record attempt, Tarrés has also achieved a new record for the highest altitude ever registered on a single-cylinder motorcycle, when he reached 6,756 metres on a cross country specific Yamaha YZ450FX.
