AT THE LEAD SINCE DAY ONE, JACOPO CERUTTI AND HIS APRILIA TUAREG, THIRD IN TODAY'S STAGE, MAINTAINED THE LEADERSHIP BEFORE THE MID-RACE BREAK

The Africa Eco Race reaches the halfway point, the legendary Pink Lake of Dakar approaches, and Aprilia Tuareg continues to lead the general classification: with three stage victories out of five held so far, ridden impeccably by Jacopo Cerutti, the Italian twin-cylinder is leading the African rally right from the start.
A great result, the result of the work of Aprilia Racing and GCorse, as well as a further demonstration of the great basic off-road skills of the Aprilia Tuareg, the bike that won the Italian Motorally Championship on its debut and is now already capable of competing on equal terms with its rivals in a much more challenging context such as the African desert.

The fifth stage, the last before the rest day, from Fort Chacal to Dakhla, saw another good battle on the edge between Cerutti's Tuareg and the two Yamahas of Alessandro Botturi and Pol Tarres, direct rivals in the standings . Having managed to reunite with Tarres after a navigation error, Cerutti then controlled his rivals and reached the finish line together with them, finishing the stage in third place with a minimum gap. Cerutti's lead in the standings is now 4'15" over Botturi, and 4'45" over Tarres.

An extremely positive result also for the debutant Francesco Montanari, who is entrusted with the second Aprilia Tuareg at the start: having set out to get to grips with a race that is completely new to him, the Como native slowly increased his pace, constantly placing himself in the top ten. Seventh place of the day allows him to climb another position in the general classification, which now sees him seventh.

The journey to Dakar will resume on Monday 8 January, with the first stage in Mauritania, from Dakhla to Chami, 635 km of which 205 are timed specials.

Automatic translation of the Italian Version
Source: Aprilia Racing's official press release
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