The 2025 Africa Eco Race was a duel for the ages on two wheels as Alessandro Botturi and Yamaha sought to dethrone the Aprilia of Jacopo Cerutti. They traded the bike lead for much of the 11-stage (the 12th stage was not included in the final results) rally before Cerutti mounted a dramatic comeback to beat him by just 26 seconds.

Cerutti’s hopes of a repeat were imperiled when his rear tire’s bib mousse came loose in Stage #6, then took another blow when he contracted a gastrointestinal virus. He wasn’t the only rider to fall sick either as Vincent Biau suffered flu-like symptoms that sidelined him for three days and even Botturi woke up with a fever at one point.

Botturi took advantage of his rival’s problems to pull ahead by 9:49 after eight stages. However, a difficult Stage #10 for Botturi enabled Cerutti to almost completely erase the gap, trimming it down to just nine seconds. An attempt to defend the narrow margin died on the final day when plastic netting got snagged in Botturi’s wheel and chain. Cerutti cruised to win by 26 seconds.

Ironically, had Stage #12 been timed, Botturi would have had the fastest total time as he had 41 seconds on Cerutti that day.

“An edition which ended in the best possible way, in spite of the difficulties we faced and overcame,” Cerutti described. “I rode well, without making many mistakes. I did not crash and I managed to stay consistently focused. We had an outstanding advantage in the sand, both because of my riding style and the performance of the Tuareg Rally, and I was able to exploit it fully. It was an edition where strategy was fundamental and, in the last two days, I accomplished an undertaking that even I did not think possible. When I saw that I could pull away on the dunes, I started to believe and I gave it 100%.”

While his bike is not as powerful as Cerutti’s Aprilia Tuareg 600 or Botturi’s Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid, 450cc rider Guillaume Borne joined them on the outright bike podium. Borne had been the fastest in his class for much of the rally before falling behind due to navigation errors, which Guillem Martinez Boronat and two-time AER winner Pål Anders Ullevålseter seized upon. However, Borne passed Martinez in Stage #10 and held on to win the class.

Martinez was the fastest Motul Xtreme Rider, or a rider competing without the help of a crew. Biau was the last such rider to complete the race in the 650cc–1000cc class, happy to reach Dakar on a stock Suzuki V-Strom 800DE. Stephanie Rowe, 34th in 450cc, was the first woman to compete the AER as a Motul Xtreme Rider.

Harley-Davidson’s Joan Pedrero improved upon his 25th in his AER debut last year to finish eighth overall as the lone person on a bike over 1000cc.

On four wheels, Benoît Fretin’s Century CR6 was consistent. While he was the only entrant in T1.3, he was the fastest car as a whole from Stage #2 to the finish. Stages #5, #10, and #11 were the only days in which he did not set the fastest time for cars, with Tomáš Ouředníček and Pierre Lafay respectively doing that.

“It was incredible. We built this victory day by day,” said Fretin. “Maybe we weren’t the fastest, but the strategy paid off.”

While Lafay won the SSV class in his Can-Am Maverick R, Ouředníček was forced to retire with an engine failure in Stage #6 after a tumultuous race for his Toyota GR DKR Hilux. Magdalena Zajac, who opted for the AER rather than the concurrent Dakar Rally like Ouředníček, endured a rash of mechanical issues to survive for the T1.1 victory.

Gerrit Zuurmond, another Dakar Rally defector, won in Truck ahead of William van Groningen. Zuurmond’s Rainbow Truck Team elected for the AER to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

Technically speaking, the 2025 AER only had nine stages that counted. Stage #7 was neutralized after a plane crashed into a refuel truck and injured bike rider Andrea Perfetti, while Stage #9 was canceled because of sandstorms.

Although he was in a non-competition class, the race marked Dakar Rally legend Stéphane Peterhansel’s return to Lac Rose on a motorcycle for the first time since winning the 1998 Paris–Dakar Rally. Peterhansel ran the final four stages as part of the Ténéré Spirit Experience.

Overall results

Moto

450cc

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	3	9	Guillaume Borne	BB Racing Team	38:46:35	Leader
2	4	75	Guillem Martinez Boronat*	Senegal Team	38:47:56	+ 1:21
3	5	80	Mathieu Liebaert*	RVE-Graphecool Racing	39:09:40	+ 23:05
4	7	2	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	Norwit Racing	39:17:29	+ 30:54
5	9	88	Scott Britnell	Grit Adventures	40:44:45	+ 1:58:00
6	10	30	Johan Persson	KLWN Racing	41:43:30	+ 2:56:55
7	11	50	Hans Kristian Dovland*	Dovland 2 Dakar	41:43:45	+ 2:57:10
8	12	90	Joachim Hellsten	A4+	41:50:32	+ 3:03:57
9	13	93	Giovanni Gritti	RS Moto	42:05:02	+ 3:18:27
10	14	36	Steve Perlinski	Team Perlinski	42:07:38	+ 3:21:03
11	15	52	Jan Vondrášek	DR.K	42:29:06	+ 3:42:31
12	16	12	Jiri Kalat	Norwit Racing	42:40:25	+ 3:53:50
13	18	34	James Simonin	Adventure World	43:02:02	+ 4:15:27
14	19	18	Patrice Carillon	Carillon Patrice Aventure	43:33:01	+ 4:46:26
15	20	28	Boris Wolters	Minou et Minou	44:10:31	+ 5:23:56
16	21	91	Luca Seppele*	Energia & Sorrisi O.d.v.	44:10:59	+ 5:24:24
17	22	59	Shinya Fujiwara	SMRP with Bivouac Osaka	44:24:22	+ 5:37:47
18	23	31	Daniel Mattsson	KLWN Racing	44:29:08	+ 5:42:33
19	25	42	Daniele Livi	Solarys Racing	45:02:57	+ 6:16:22
20	26	41	Alessandro Rigoni	Solarys Racing	45:03:44	+ 6:17:09
21	27	51	Jiří Blažek	DR.K	45:17:26	+ 6:30:51
22	29	64	Geoffroy Lemercier	Geoff’road	45:28:16	+ 6:41:41
23	30	71	Massimiliano Guerrini	Solarys Racing	45:48:24	+ 7:01:49
24	31	85	Damien Derocq	Team Derocq Objectif	46:16:12	+ 7:29:37
25	32	53	Anders Berglund	Anders Berglund	46:51:10	+ 8:04:35
26	33	39	Diego Marchesini	Energia & Sorrisi O.d.v.	46:58:37	+ 8:12:02
27	34	79	Pierpaolo Vivaldi	Energia & Sorrisi O.d.v.	47:37:34	+ 8:50:59
28	35	32	Thierry Costard	LDZ56	48:08:59	+ 9:22:24
29	36	33	Maxence Costard*	LDZ56	48:09:58	+ 9:23:23
30	37	15	Christian Punginelli	Pro Shop Moto	49:45:30	+ 10:58:55
31	38	72	Carmelo Palmer	Calabria Adventure	50:35:56	+ 11:49:21
32	39	49	Richard Borer	CH Racing	51:30:48	+ 12:44:13
33	40	29	Jerome Delforge	Minou et Minou	53:53:48	+ 15:07:13
34	42	82	Stephanie Rowe	Petokask	57:58:44	+ 19:12:09
35	45	68	Shingo Sugimura	SMRP with Bivouac Osaka	76:54:26	+ 38:07:51
36	46	46	Jean-Yves Sottiaux	Jean-Yves Sottiaux	78:14:15	+ 39:27:40
37	47	14	Filippo Pietri*	Solarys Racing	82:27:22	+ 43:40:47
38	49	60	Yuki Fujiwara*	SMRP with Bivouac Osaka	95:13:07	+ 56:26:32
39	50	77	Vegar Pettersen	DoctorBraap	109:34:50	+ 70:48:15
40	52	66	Yuji Kahara	SMRP with Bivouac Osaka	116:48:40	+ 78:02:05
41	53	69	Ivan Besenzoni	J. B. Rally	116:52:00	+ 78:05:25
42	54	38	Michel Lhermenier	Team ESM	117:06:01	+ 78:19:26
43	55	48	Xavier Tholy	Xavier Tholy	117:51:41	+ 79:05:06
44	59	45	Gianni Moretto	Energia & Sorrisi O.d.v.	161:22:44	+ 122:36:09
45	60	25	Lorenzo Busatti	Lorenzo Busatti	169:06:14	+ 130:19:39
DNF	DNF	11	Martin Benko	Norwit Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	26	Stéphane Stragliati	SRT	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	27	Paolo Filippi	Rally Team Azzurrorosa	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	37	Tony van Cauwenberghe	Team Perlinski	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	40	Richard Kaye	Rally Adventure Team / Enduro Greece	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	44	Gianni Moretto	Energia & Sorrisi O.d.v.	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	47	Roch Wolville	Aumiot Motos	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	48	Xavier Tholy	Xavier Tholy	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	55	Claudio Fiorini	Fiorini	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	58	Andrea Perfetti	RS Moto	DNF	N/A

Over 450cc

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	58	62	Junichi Oshitamoto	SMRP with Bivouac Osaka	147:15:47	Leader
DNF	DNF	19	Francesco Puocci	Team Puocci	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	63	Ai Tanaka	Kisarazu Base	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	65	Akihiro Saito	Kisarazu Base	DNF	N/A

Multi-Cylinder (650cc–1000cc)

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	1	1	Jacopo Cerutti	Aprilia Racing GCorse	36:15:10	Leader
2	2	3	Alessandro Botturi	Yamaha Ténéré World Raid Team	36:15:36	+ 00:00:26
3	6	7	Marco Menichini	Aprilia Racing GCorse	39:13:20	+ 2:58:10
4	17	10	Eric Bernard	Ouest Racing	42:49:01	+ 6:33:51
5	24	89	Thierry Traccan	Yamaha Ténéré World Raid Team	44:40:19	+ 8:25:09
6	28	87	Christophe Meillat	Ténéré Spirit Experience	45:27:41	+ 9:12:31
7	41	22	Francesco Montanari	Aprilia Racing GCorse	57:32:57	+ 21:17:47
8	43	17	Matteo Bottino*	Kove Italia Lucky Explorer	60:59:40	+ 24:44:30
9	44	67	Laurent Cochet	Yamaha Ténéré World Raid Team	72:46:45	+ 36:31:35
10	48	24	Nicolas Charlier	Yamaha Ténéré World Raid Team	85:59:00	+ 49:43:50
11	51	21	Jarno D’orsogna*	Yamaha Ténéré World Raid Team	112:00:54	+ 75:45:44
12	56	61	Mirco Bettini	Rally Team Azzurrorosa	126:32:26	+ 90:17:16
13	57	83	Vincent Biau	Petokask	136:43:02	+ 100:27:52
DNF	DNF	13	Pol Tarrés	Yamaha Ténéré World Raid Team	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	20	Francesco Catanese	Tuttogru	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	35	Stefano Bilato	Energia e Sorrisi	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	54	Matthieu Brabant*	MATT Adventure	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	84	Michel Delaye	Michel	DNF	N/A

Multi-Cylinder (Over 1000cc)

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	8	5	Joan Pedrero	Harley-Davidson	40:39:54	Leader

Quad

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
DNF	DNF	99	Laurent Hellemans	Hellau	DNF	N/A

Auto

T1.1

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Time	Margin
1	7	204	Magdalena Zajac	Błażej Czekan	Proxcars TME Rally Team	59:39:35	Leader
2	8	203	Wietse Tates	Koen Wessling	Kort Door de Bocht Offroad Racing Team	59:06:21	+ 5:26:46
3	9	202	Imre Varga	József Toma	Varga Racing Team	59:30:06	+ 5:50:31
DNF	DNF	201	Vincent Vroninks	Dave Berghmans	QFF Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	207	Tomáš Ouředníček	Lukáš Barták	Toyota Gazoo Racing Czech	DNF	N/A

T1.3

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Time	Margin
1	1	200	Benoît Fretin	Cédric Duple	YDEO Competition	32:36:30	Leader

T5.1

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Mechanic	Team	Time	Margin
1	4	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Tjeerd van Ballegooij	Klaas Kwakkel	Rainbow Truck Team	39:34:12	Leader
2	5	401	William van Groningen	Wesley van Groningen	Raph van den Elshout	Dust Warriors	41:35:30	+ 2:01:18

SSV

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Time	Margin
1	2	251	Pierre Lafay	Gilles de Turckheim	Team Gazzafond	37:13:08	Leader
2	3	250	Martijn van den Broek	Jan Paul van der Poel	QFF Racing	37:15:13	+ 2:05
3	6	252	Philippe Champigné	Bruno Robin	Team Aventure 79	52:46:31	+ 15:33:23

Historic

Low Average

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Points	Margin
1	300	Éric Claeys	Tom Claeys	Claeyson	1,404	Leader
2	301	Kurt Dujaryn	René Declercq	VW Iltis Team	2,814	+ 1,410

Intermediate Average

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Points	Margin
1	302	Fabrice Morin	Magali Morin	YDEO Competition	15,618	Leader
2	319	Sylvie David-Boulin	Virginie Gobbe-Malval	Les Drôles de Dames Team 4×465	28,284	+ 12,666
3	338	Hélène Grand’Eury	Séverine Arnaud	HS Team / Team Roses 38	38,651	+ 23,033

Featured image credit: Piaggio Group