APRILIA TUAREG 660 ASTONISHES ONCE AGAIN IN THE ITALIAN MOTORALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

IN GIOIA DEI MARSI JACOPO CERUTTI TAKES A CATEGORY SECOND AND FIRST PLACE, EVER CLOSER TO A HISTORIC ABSOLUTE VICTORY

THE ADVENTURE BIKE FROM NOALE CONFIRMS ITS STATUS AS THE POINT OF REFERENCE IN THE GPX WITH A FANTASTIC ONE-TWO ON SUNDAY

Gioia dei Marsi (L’Aquila), 1 May 2023 - After the brilliant double win achieved a month ago at its début in the Italian Motorally Championship, the Aprilia Tuareg 660 continues to astonish, confirming its status at the top in Gioia dei Marsi for the third and fourth round of the championship.

In Abruzzo, Jacopo Cerutti was the protagonist of another top performance astride the Tuareg 660 developed by Aprilia Racing with the technical collaboration of GCorse: if he missed a historic absolute victory by just 25” in Riotorto, this time the win over the lighter, enduro single-cylinder bikes was just 17” away, coming even closer to this unprecedented milestone for a twin-cylinder motorcycle.

Cerutti started the weekend with fifth place on Saturday, second in the G-1000 category after a thrilling battle with Alessandro Botturi (Yamaha), who gained the upper hand by just 26”. But it was in the rally on Sunday that the Cerutti-Tuareg duo was back to dominating, uncatchable among the twin-cylinders and just a hair behind absolute winner Leonardo Tonelli (Gas Gas 350).

Also shining brightly in the G-1000 category (reserved for multi-cylinder bikes over 600 cc) was the second Aprilia Racing Tuareg 600, entrusted to Francesco Montanari: fourth on Saturday, hindered by a problem with the rear brake that was promptly resolved, the rider from Como finished the day on the third step of the podium Sunday.

So, the fledgling Aprilia Racing project aimed at returning the Aprilia brand to big rally raids is proceeding on a positive trend, with the Tuareg 660 proving to perform well on different types of terrain and on routes characterised by fast sections.

Jacopo Cerutti
“It was a great weekend! To be honest, I thought we would have struggled a bit on these routes, with lots of loose stones and rather fast special trials. On Saturday it took me a bit of time to re-adapt to the bike, whereas Botturi started extremely strong straight away and managed to beat me, although not by much, but it was a positive day overall, finishing with an absolute fifth place. On Sunday, on the other hand, we gave one hundred percent and put in a super performance. I tried to exploit the bike’s strong points, namely the handling and ease of riding on the more flowing paths, and I tried to hold tough on the fast sections. We battled for the absolute victory once again, coming even closer and we will undoubtedly try again!”

Francesco Montanari
“I’m satisfied with the weekend. The bike is working extremely well, I rode well, and on both days, our placement in terms of the absolute standings was really good, which demonstrates our potential. Despite a problem with the rear brake on Saturday, I was still able to finish in fourth place for the G-1000 class, whereas Sunday went even better with third place. We are improving consistently and the results are demonstrating as much.”

Developed by Aprilia Racing with the technical collaboration of GCorse, owned by brothers Gianfranco and Vittoriano Guareschi, the competition version of the Aprilia Tuareg 660 is outfitted with Öhlins by Andreani suspension, entirely titanium SC Project exhaust, and specific Sprint Filter air filter. The collaboration with Metzeler was priceless, as they are increasingly more interested in the twin-cylinder adventure world and chose Aprilia to develop the products for a future commitment in rally raids. In Gioia dei Marsi, Tuareg 660 won with Metzeler Karoo tyres made specifically for use in raid and motorally competitions.

Brilliant one-two in the Italian GPX Championship
In Abruzzo, the Aprilia Tuareg 660 was also a protagonist in the Italian GPX Championship, born this year to open up the discipline to the many off-road riding fans, thanks to navigation via GPS, simpler than the traditional roadbook.

The two Tuareg 660 machines on the starting grid of the GPX are basically stock, equipped only with the minimum modifications required to tackle a competition. Already the winner of one of the three rounds held in Riotorto, Paolo Pettinari repeated the performance in Gioia dei Marsi, winning on Sunday, with another Tuareg 660 finishing second, ridden this time by Michele Pradelli (who also finished with an outstanding second place on Saturday, when Pettinari was fifth). A fantastic one-two that demonstrates how the Tuareg 660 currently represents the new point of reference among twin-cylinder adventure bikes for any enthusiast looking for a bike with which to approach off-road competitions in the easiest and most fun way.

Precisely for this reason, Aprilia will be at the Italian Motorally races with its own structure to provide support for all those who intend to participate in the GPX championship astride a Tuareg 660.