Mother Nature really doesn’t want the Africa Eco Race to take place.

After the Prologue and Stage 1 were canceled due to Storm Harry, the race finally began for real on Tuesday. Even then, Stage 2 had to be shortened from 381 kilometers to 218 km because rain damaged much of the second half.

Even with the weather refusing to comply, they still got in a good chunk of racing. Alessandro Botturi, who narrowly lost the 2025 AER bike win, kicked off the racing portion with a vengeance as he set the fastest time. He was over two minutes quicker than runner-up Jean-Loup Lepan.

Lepan is a Dakar Rally regular still trying to get back into the sport after suffering serious injuries in a crash at the 2024 Rallye du Maroc. He made his return to action with the last two bajas in 2025.

“The apprehension about returning to a rough and very rocky terrain gradually gave way to enjoyment,” Lepan commented.

Despite the short length, the stage still claimed its fair share of victims. Anthony Neves, the last bike on course, was further slowed down by a mechanical issue that hampered his learning experience in the dunes. Yoshimasa Sugawara encountered electrical issues that caused him to finish less than half an hour before midnight.

Alexis Varagne had a massive crash ten kilometers from the finish, but avoided serious damage and injury. He is the only quad entered.

Defending bike champion Jacopo Cerutti finished fourth overall and 2:36 behind Botturi.

“I started first and was managed to lead for practically the whole day,” Cerutti commented. “Even though the timed section was shortened to 218 kilometers, it went well, and I’m happy with the pace. The bike is performing well, and we’ll see if we can make any improvements ahead of the second stage. There are many strong competitors this year, but we’re ready to compete.”

Stage 2 winners

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	2	176	Jean-Loup Lepan	RC Assistance	2:26:14
Over 450cc	25	123	Fabio Lottero	Club Aventura Touareg	3:04:08
Over 650cc	1	2	Alessandro Botturi	Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team	2:24:04
Electric	96	100	Cyril Forget	CFR Endurance	5:30:00
Quad	97	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	5:30:00

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	3	207	Tomáš Ouředníček	Toyota Gazoo Racing Czech	2:25:43
T1.1	6	206	Magdalena Zając	Proxcars TME Rally Team	2:32:08
T1.2	1	218	Nicolas Delencre	Config Racing	2:20:19
Open	14	208	Éric Coquidé	RT2R	4:27:05

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	1	251	Pierre Lafay	Team Gazzafond	2:24:34
T3	2	253	Jérôme Cambier	Jérôme Cambier	2:36:49
T4	3	271	Sander Derikx	QFF Racing	2:37:30

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	3:08:02

Historic

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Points
Group 1	3	384	François-Xavier Bourgois	Acit Racing	614
Group 2	1	302	Jorge Pérez Companc	Madpanda Motorsport	395
Group 3	7	352	Philippe Voisin	Aventure Girousse	1,526
Truck	17	307	Sébastien Desprets	RT2R	5,454

Featured image credit: Ténéré Spirit Experience