The Ténéré Spirit Experience riders and the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team enjoyed an awesome adventure at the 2024 TransAnatolia Rally, with Alessandro Botturi riding brilliantly to finish in second place overall for the second consecutive year.
Botturi was accompanied on the TransAnatolia podium by his debutant teammate Matteo Drusiani who was third, whilst in the twin-cylinder over 650cc category Yamaha were dominant, locking out the top four places. The 14th edition of the TransAnatolia also saw the Ténéré Spirit Experience project represented in strong numbers, with our customers making the most of this stunning Turkish extravaganza.
From MersIn to Van – 2000km over seven days
Commencing in the southern Turkish port city of Merson the TransAnatolia participants covered +2000km in seven days of tough riding through varied terrain, including forests, open plains and rocky mountains, to reach the finish on the shores of the stunning Lake Van.
Botturi completed the race with two stage wins and a creditable overall second place, having been consistently in the top three on every stage. After seven days of competition he took the win in the B3 class for twin-cylinders over 650cc and was only beaten overall by a margin of one minute and 54 seconds by a rider on a factory prototype 450cc.
The experienced Botturi was joined on the overall rostrum by his young teammate Italian Motorally Champion Drusiani, with an excellent third place overall finish in his first ever international Rally-Raid event. His performance also highlighted the quality and reliability of the GYTR equipped Ténéré 700 World Rally at the highest level of competition.
Strong performance throughout the field on the Ténéré
It is worth remembering that GYTR kits convert the standard road-going production Ténéré into an elite level Rally-Raid machine, allowing the likes of Botturi and Drusiani to compete with and outperform riders on 450cc prototypes which are not accessible to the public.
Meanwhile, the awesome Italian duo of Botturi and Drusiani were backed up at the TransAnatolia by strong performances from all our Ténéré Spirit Experience riders in the race category, with Attilio Fert and Nicolas Charlier making it four Ténérés in the overall classification’s top six, as they reached the finish respectively fifth and sixth, in a clean sweep of the B3 category top four. Sonia Barbot finished seventh in the B3 class and 18th overall, ensuring that all the Yamaha Ténéré riders present completed the race.
In the Raid category Yann Thebault, Fred Murat, Clara Cottot, Bryan Fernandes and Jérôme Clastre did themselves proud, taking in all the thrills and spills of Rally-Raid riding with the Ténéré Spirit Experience and providing us with awesome updates of their adventures on Instagram along the way.
Bourgeois’ view: ‘they performed superbly’
Marc Bourgeois, Team Manager of the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team, reviewed the race, saying, “It was a fantastic rally and I thank the organisers of the TransAnatolia for putting on such a good event. Thanks also to the whole team, who did an amazing job supporting our riders. We are at the end of another epic adventure. Alessandro was incredible again, and this has been the perfect preparation for him ahead of the Africa Eco Race in January.”
“It was great also to give Matteo a chance on the official bike. He is a young, talented Italian Motorally Champion, and this was his first ever international rally raid event, plus his first time riding in the team, and he gained lots of experience. I think he has a very bright future ahead of him. We also had three more Ténéré Spirit Experience riders taking part in the race, and they performed superbly, showcasing the ability of the standard Ténéré with the GYTR-kits fitted to complete a top four lockout of the B3 class.”
Next up for the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team will be the Africa Eco Race (AER), which the team last year won in fine style. The forthcoming edition is set to take place from 28th December 2024 to 12th January 2025.
