At the end of December and rolling into 2025 the momentum of the Ténéré Spirit Experience programme will continue to build at the prestigious Africa Eco Race.
Heading for the Africa Eco Race 2025
Alongside the official Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team, 11 Ténéré Spirit Experience customers are set to take on the challenge and taste the adventure at this epic race, which covers routes which previously featured in the legendary Paris-Dakar rally.
Racing through North Africa to Senegal, the competitors first take on the tough, stony slopes of Morocco, battling across the dunes and vast plains of the Western Sahara. After they reach the border with Mauritania they will encounter huge belts of dunes and desert plateaus,eventually enjoying the magnificent display of colours in Senegal, before a sensational finish at the famous Lake Rose.
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team manager Marc Bourgeois, who also runs the Ténéré Spirit Experience project, looks ahead to the event, saying, “At this year’s Africa Eco Race in the Ténéré Spirit Experience programme we will have seven customers in the Racing category, four customers in the Raid category and two official riders in the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team.” »
Participation and interest in the Ténéré Spirit Experience continues to grow, with this larger presence at the Africa Eco Race to be followed up by the Carta Rallye in April of 2025, where up to 30 Ténéré customers will be taking part.
The goal according to Marc Bourgeois
Marc Bourgeois underlines the tradition and excitement of the project, stating, “The Ténéré has a long history of adventure, to discover new territory. For the customers who ride with us in the Raid category at events, in particular at this easier level, it is like a dream for them when they join these official races, with official riders, to share in the atmosphere in the bivouac.”
He adds, “For me when I was an official rider in Enduro, when you won an important event there was a lot of emotion. When I spend time with our customers now at races you see it is the same emotion. It is different in one way because it is not about winning it is about crossing the finish line. For them that moment it is like they have won the MotoGP World Championship! When you share that emotion with them it is something special, so we are lucky to be part of this concept with the Ténéré Spirit Experience.”
At the previous edition of the Africa Eco Race, in addition to the successful participation of the customer riders, the official Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team raced brilliantly, with Alessandro Botturi finishing in second and Pol Tarrés securing an impressive third. Between them, the pair secured seven of the 12 stage victories.
Marc Bourgeois comments, “We have a new spec on the new bike so at the end of November we carried out a training event with the team and that’s an important moment as a warm-up for the Africa Eco Race, adjusting the final details. What we expect is to fight to be in first place, but obviously this is a competition. What I’m sure of is that all the team will give 100% to get the best possible race result.”
Entries for the Africa Eco Race are already closed. To join us at the Carta Rallye – from 14th-20th April 2025 – with a special package which allows competitors of all levels to participate, click here.
