Aprilia debuted within the Dakar Rally with the Tuareg in 1989. However, the Noale manufacturing facility’s RXV Rally 450 twin achieved Aprilia’s greatest ends in the World’s Toughest Race. The revolutionary platform not solely earned three stage victories in 2010, but additionally completed third general. The RXV contested its final Dakar in 2012 and the Italian marque has remained out of the race for years resulting from homologation guidelines.
Aprilia hopes to vary that within the close to future with its ‘Back to Africa’ mission.
“We are picking up the baton from a history of great successes,” claimed Aprilia Racing Technical Director Romano Albesiano. “Aprilia is the only Italian brand to have won a stage of the Dakar Rally and, in 2010, we took the last podium in the overall ranking.”
Of course, the Dakar Rally solely permits single-cylinder machines with capacities as much as 450cc. The Aprilia Tuareg 660’s parallel twin doesn’t fairly meet these rules. Nevertheless, the model will develop its middleweight ADV as a rally-ready race bike alongside GCorse’s Gianfranco and Vittoriano Guareschi.
The brothers beforehand geared up the modern-day Tuareg to contend within the 2022 Italian MotoRally Championship. The partnership will proceed in 2023, with Dakar vet Jacopo Cerutti and promising newcomer Francesco Montanari piloting the 660 on this 12 months’s MotoRally.
“With its ‘Back to Africa’ project, Aprilia Racing is returning to the world of off-road racing, to the races that forged the division,” confirmed Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola. “We want to discover new talent through our SP 250 Championship and the RS 660 Trophy, but we are also embarking on a completely new project with the extraordinary Aprilia Tuareg. It’s an additional sign of development for a racing division that has grown significantly over the past years achieving results never before seen by Aprilia.”
In addition to supporting Cerutti and Montanari, Aprilia Racing will even help rivals within the new entry-level GPX class.
“These are just the first steps in a completely new project, and the purpose of the 2023 season will be to start us on the path that will take us back to the great desert races,” added Albesiano. “But one thing is certain: the bike will be forged from the values that have always marked Aprilia’s racing endeavors: innovation in the service of performance.”
Now, till the Dakar Rally alters its guidelines to accommodate the Tuareg, Aprilia might want to check its mission at different venues. However, we’re excited to see the House of Noale so intent on re-entering the rally world.
Source: www.rideapart.com