Fresh off agreeing to a two-year contract extension through 2027, Jacopo Cerutti and Aprilia Tuareg Racing Team got back to work in Romania by dominating the RoRallyMarathon. It was the team’s first time competing in the event and they looked unstoppable as Cerutti, Marco Menichini, and Francesco Montanari respectively finished first, second, and fourth overall.

Cerutti won all but one of the six stages, setting the tone early when he was the only rider to clear the four-hour mark in SS1 and being faster than the field by 15 minutes. SS2 also saw him be the lone rider with a time below three hours, comfortably clearing that by six minutes. Even his only non-stage win, in SS4, was because he lost to Menichini by just one second.

By the end, he led Menichini by nearly an hour to win the overall and the FIM 5 category for twin-cylinder bikes.

The win continues a perfect year for Cerutti with the Aprilia factory rally raid team. He began 2025 by winning the Africa Eco Race for the second straight year, then dominated the Hellas Rally Raid in Greece in June. RoRallyMarathon was also intended as extra prep for the 2026 AER.

“We had some excellent stages, Marco and Cecco performed strongly, but above all, it was a great test for the tires and engines,” said Cerutti. “There was no speed limit, so we were able to fully exploit the engine, conducting very important endurance tests on all components in preparation for the Africa Eco Race 2026. The Tuareg Rally always performs very well, the feeling is excellent, and that’s the secret behind these consecutive successes.”

Josep Pedró Subirats, who raced the Dakar Rally in 2024, spoiled Aprilia’s hopes of a podium sweeep by placing third. Although Montanari beat him by six minutes on the final leg, he still had a one-minute advantage in the end.

Although coming up short of sealing an Aprilia 1–2–3, Montanari was “satisfied with how the rally went. It was useful for testing ahead of the Africa Eco Race, as well as for continuing to develop the bike, which was the main goal. Certainly, without a few setbacks, we could have done even better in the overall standings.”

Matteo Bottino turned 29 during the race, and he celebrated by bringing his Kove 800X to the finish fourth in class and rounding out the FIM top five.

The original SS3 was canceled due to inclement weather, shorteneing the race from seven to six stages. Heavy rain also poured a damper on SS5, which Menichini won in an Aprilia sweep.

Organized by Baja 555 Romania, RoRallyMarathon counted as the first two rounds of the Individual Romanian Rally Raid Championship (Campionatul Naţional Individual al Romaniei Rally Raid, CNIR), the second race for cars in the National Rally Raid Championship (Campionatul Național de Rally Raid, CNRR), and third event for FIM Europe’s European TT Rally Cup.

FIM

FIM 1

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	7	6	Michal Bisaga	Yamaha WR250F	19:04:51	Leader
2	9	13	Ejder Tekin Erişti	KTM 350 EXC-F EFI	19:27:04	+ 22:13
3	12	30	Ignacio Canales Mayo	KTM 350 EXC-F	21:18:42	+ 2:13:51

FIM 2

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	3	144	Josep Pedró Subirats	Husqvarna FR 450 Rally	18:08:30	Leader
2	6	92	Miguel Sanz Garces	KTM EXC	18:52:27	+ 43:57
3	8	15	Jasmin Riccius	KTM 450 Rally	19:12:52	+ 1:04:2
4	10	44	Thomas Zoldos	Beta 430 RR Race Edition	21:16:45	+ 3:08:15
5	14	61	Michel Lhermenier	Beta 430 RR Race Edition	22:10:13	+ 4:01:43
6	17	120	Jim Moisa	KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica	26:50:01	+ 8:41:31
7	18	217	Sara Jugla	Husqvarna FR 450 Rally	28:49:51	+ 10:41:21

FIM 3

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	11	48	Stéphane Joly	Beta 480 RR	21:18:37	Leader
2	15	31	Gilles Bartolini	Husqvarna FE 501	23:38:07	+ 2:19:30
3	16	36	Fikret Akkurt	Husqvarna TE 499	23:49:04	+ 2:30:27

FIM 5

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	1	55	Jacopo Cerutti	Aprilia Tuareg 660 Rally	16:59:41	Leader
2	2	57	Marco Menichini	Aprilia Tuareg 660 Rally	17:56:04	+ 56:23
3	4	56	Francesco Montanari	Aprilia Tuareg 660 Rally	18:09:43	+ 1:10:02
4	5	17	Matteo Bottino	Kove 800X Rally	18:18:05	+ 1:18:24
5	13	72	Moreno Carvani	KTM 950 Super Enduro R	21:52:10	+ 4:52:29

International

M1

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	12	10	Georg Reinprecht	Beta 390 RR	26:24:20	Leader
2	13	85	Yann Desboeufs	Husqvarna FE 350	28:41:15	+ 2:16:55
3	18	12	Valentina Becherucci	Honda CRF300L	53:13:39	+ 26:49:19

M3

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	1	344	Alexandru Goran #	Husqvarna FE 501	18:45:34	Leader
2	3	65	Gian Luca Marchetto	Fantic XEF 450 Rally Factory	21:18:50	2:33:16
3	7	4	Mario Dumitru #	Husqvarna FE 450	23:59:38	+ 5:14:04
4	8	11	Federico Ghiringhelli	KTM 450 Rally	25:27:54	+ 6:42:20
5	9	63	David Zucchini del Vecchio	KTM 500 EXC-F	25:31:06	+ 6:45:32
6	10	67	Elisa Carnovali	Kove 450 Rally	25:48:27	+ 7:02:53
7	14	121	Vincent Lerat	Hsuqvarna TE 500	29:31:07	+ 10:45:33
8	16	52	Stefan Prisecaru #	Yamaha WR450F	31:16:39	+ 12:31:05

M5

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	2	7	Michele Fiore	Yamaha Ténéré 700	19:45:14	Leader
2	5	22	Alexandru Radu #	KTM 690 Enduro R	22:20:27	+ 2:35:13
3	6	21	Andrea Lussiana	Kove 800X Pro	22:52:59	+ 3:07:45

M6

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	4	71	Riccardo Taddei	Yamaha Ténéré 700	21:29:15	Leader
2	11	68	Niccolò Pietribiasi	Kove 800X Pro	25:57:25	+ 4:28:10
3	15	66	Alexandru Sararu #	Suzuki V-Strom 800DE	29:46:09	+ 8:16:54
4	17	70	Raffaele Vocaturo	Suzuki V-Strom 800DE	34:03:36	+ 12:34:21
5	19	69	Antonella Deni	Kove 800X Pro	53:27:35	+ 31:58:20

SSV

Finish	Number	Driver	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	2032	Cistian Gabbarini	Yamaha YXZ1000R	TH SSV	24:28:27	Leader
2	296	Andrei Sandru	Can-Am Maverick	Promo	33:01:00	+ 8:32:33
3	201	Marrini Stefano	Yamaha YXZ1000R	TH SSV	35:16:15	+ 10:47:48

Featured image credit: Adrian Marin / Studio 4 Friends