Inspiration Friday: Fascinating TransAnatolia Rally

Have you ever wanted to do something so inspirational in motorcycling but never had the money resources to do it? For under $3000 now you can! Introducing Inspiration Friday: Fascinating TransAnatolia Rally, from September 2-9th it’s an incredible chance to get many amazing moments along with an invaluable experience with the ability to experience the best moments of your life.

A great leap for amateur riders or to train for long riding marathons, the impossible to forget and one of the leading rally raid events will attract rally enthusiasts from all over the world…join them today and start the memories.

Also meet Aprilia there with their “Back to Africa” project, launched to return the Aprilia brand to the great African raids, is entering its most important stage. With Aprilia riders Jacopo Cerutti and Francesco Montanar you would be riding with the greats.

Check out our 2023 and 2024 Motorcycle Model Guides to get your Rally inspiration on! Also see the current Desafio Ruta 40 Rally now on and our daily coverage of the results!

Read below on everything you need to know. Plus some great photos you can’t resist along the journey.

Total Motorcycle would like to thank Aprilia well as our over 400 million of motorcycle riders and enthusiasts who visit and support TMW for inspiring us to bring you this week’s Inspiration Friday: Fascinating TransAnatolia Rally!

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APRILIA TUAREG AT THE TRANSANATOLIA RALLY

• THIS IS THE FIRST IMPORTANT INTERNATIONAL TEST FOR THE “BACK TO AFRICA” PROJECT IN PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT AFRICAN RAIDS
• TWO TUAREG ON THE STARTING GRID DEVELOPED BY APRILIA RACING IN COLLABORATION WITH GCORSE, ENTRUSTED TO JACOPO CERUTTI AND FRANCESCO MONTANARI, ALREADY ABSOLUTE PROTAGONISTS IN THE ITALIAN MOTORALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Noale (Venice), 30 August 2023 – The “Back to Africa” project, launched to return the Aprilia brand to the great African raids, is entering its most important stage: two Aprilia Tuareg developed to race in the desert will be on the starting grid of the Transanatolia Rally, scheduled to be held in Turkey from 2 through 9 September, entrusted to the two Aprilia Racing factory riders, Jacopo Cerutti and Francesco Montanari.

After the initial positive tests conducted in Sardinia and Friuli, the Turkish event – a rally as exciting as it is demanding that will cross Anatolia from the Black Sea all the way to the Aegean Sea for a total of 2500 km – is a true test bench for the competition Tuareg in view of future endeavours in the African desert.

The Aprilia Tuareg developed for rally raids is built on the technical base of the bike which – closely derived from the stock model – is a huge protagonist in the Italian Motorally Championship, where Jacopo Cerutti has already taken four category wins out of the six held so far, even coming close to an absolute victory in the first two rounds. A surprising début for Tuareg in the Italian series, with Cerutti currently leading the G-1000 class, reserved for multi-cylinder bikes over 600 cc.

Developed by Aprilia Racing in collaboration with GCorse of the Guareschi brothers, the Aprilia Tuareg designed for desert racing exploits the great off-road base features of the stock Tuareg.

In an initial stage of development, focus was on chassis performance, with a modular frame and geometries aimed at ensuring stability at high speeds and greater suspension travel. Subsequently, focus shifted to finding maximum engine reliability in prohibitive conditions through various changes, including the introduction of an oil radiator. Last, but not least, the adoption of a first supplementary fuel tank increased range, necessary for covering the long rally raid distances.

The competition version of the Aprilia Tuareg is fitted with Öhlins by Andreani suspension, a complete SC Project exhaust in titanium, and a specific Sprint Filter air filter. Collaboration has been priceless with Metzeler, who is focusing on the twin-cylinder adventure world with increasing interest and chose Aprilia to develop products for future use in rally raids.

Massimo Rivola – Aprilia Racing CEO
“The top priority of Aprilia Racing’s participation in the Transanatolia Rally is not the result. We are headed to Turkey to accumulate as much experience as possible in a setting that is brand new for us and which represents an extremely demanding test bench in view of the end goal – our return to African raids. Finishing the race will be fundamental in order to gather valuable data for the future to prepare for even more difficult events. In any case, the path we have taken thus far makes us optimistic for the future. The Tuareg has been able to take home outstanding results from the beginning of this project and all this has been possible thanks to a stock product with an already excellent technical base and the efforts of everyone, from the Guareschi brothers to our riders.”

Vittoriano Guareschi – Project Leader
“Development on the Tuareg continues non-stop and this time we’ll do it in a competition. The Transanatolia is an extremely important event for various reasons. We’ll be measuring up against many qualified adversaries in order to see how competitive the project is and it will also be essential to cover a lot of kilometres and gather data to see which areas need to be developed. Both the riders, Jacopo and Francesco, will have the latest evolution of the bike available to them, which has many new chassis and engine upgrades. Since this is a competition, measuring up against our adversaries is certainly important, but our priority remains developing the bike as quickly as possible.”

Jacopo Cerutti
“The Transanatolia rally will be a great test bench because well be tackling conditions which come closer to the African races in some respects compared with what we have become accustomed to in the Italian Motorally. There will be many strong rivals on the starting grid, so we’ll also have the chance to compare ourselves to them in order to better assess our own level of competitiveness. The goal is to successfully battle with the other twin-cylinders and – why not? – even try to stay up front in a few sections, although we mustn’t forget that our project is still quite young. The tests we’ve done so far on the bike have gone well, but competing in turkey will allow us to conduct the most effective tests to improve.”

Francesco Montanari
“The Transanatolia will be my first international rally and I’m going into it well aware that it will serve as great experience for me. Understanding the race rhythms will be important for me, with much longer legs than the ones I’m accustomed to. In recent months, I’ve tried to prepare physically as best as possible and I’m certain that having an expert teammate like Jacopo by my side will help me. I’m pumped up. In the tests, my sensations on the bike were outstanding. We’re on the right path to get close to Africa and I can’t wait to continue our work racing in Turkey.”

About TransAnatolia 2023

Having celebrated in 2020 the 10th edition, TransAnatolia 2023 is flashing with its fantastic new route!

Over its relatively short time, TransAnatolia has become one of the leading rally raid event in the world. It all started with an inspiring idea to test yourself as a driver, as a rider, as a person. Now you can see the result in the form of global, international events, which is impossible to forget, visiting at least once.

First attempt at organizing such passage occurred in 2010 and was very successful. The following events have become even more prosperous. Antalya, the most popular Turkish holiday resort, was selected as the start and finish destination. The second organization has completely exceeded the first one and attracted much more rally enthusiasts from all over the world. In 2011 TransAnatolia presented to the participants a wider range of possibilities and re-discovered splendid delights of Turkey.

2012 unveiled the brand new concept. Stages were master-classes and helped participants to get into the rhythm more quickly and discover a lot of details from the experience of previous editions.

The fourth event was a significant and very high quality one for all the similarities in racecourse with the previous organisations.

In 2014, celebrating five year anniversary, TransAnatolia offered new additions to the already existing stages. New levels and complexity of advanced racecourse made the race not only a unique form of entertainment, but also a great test of team and individual qualities of the competitors. This time start and finish of the rally was in Ankara, the capital city made it even more popular and recognizable.

TransAnatolia provides participants with a variety of interesting, unforgettable meetings and acquaintances, but most importantly – a better understanding of Turkish peoples’ lifestyle and Turkey in general.

Racers of higher level, will have the opportunity to train for long marathons, for best practice. Amateurs may enhance their skills in challenging stages. In addition, the most extreme motorsport enthusiasts may prefer hospitality packs, for most exciting routes.

The main purpose of TransAnatolia is the provision of unique stages with the essential level of organization and security. TransAnatolia team improve organization quality to secure complete comfort to each participant, searching an individual approach for every kind of needs. With every successive event, the event rise to higher levels, what is really transform this type of activity into a certain culture.

Today TransAnatolia offers a road book at the highest standard which is being used by all well known rally raid events all around the world. Furthermore, a satellite tracking system is in service, for monitoring the racing process. Together with satellite tracking various active and passive security measures are also taken at the highest quality of all available standards.

We invite you to become a witness and participant of this fascinating event. This is a great chance to get many amazing moments along with an invaluable experience. Let us demonstrate what we can do for you to see what you are able in the best moments of your life. Welcome to TransAnatolia!

MOTORCYCLES

Rally competitors are given road books at the highest available standards and they race against time.

Rally competitors receive a time for each respective stage. Summarization of those stage times determines the fastest racer.

Raid competitors receive points for their proximity during the stage. Summarization of those points determines the winner.

B1
Motorcycle up to 450cc single cylinder

B2
Motorcycle 451cc – 700cc single cylinder

B3
Multi-cylinder from 650cc to 1300cc

QUAD
Rally competitors are given road books at the highest available standards and they race against time.

Rally competitors receive a time for each respective stage. Summarization of those stage times determines the fastest racer.

Raid competitors receive points for their proximity during the stage. Summarization of those points determines the winner.

Q1
4×2 – QUAD

Q2
4×4 – QUAD

FAQ

TransAnatolia Rally Raid will be held in 2 – 9 september 2023.
The 13th edition of the international race will start from the famous city Samsun, on the Black Sea in northern Türkiye, and will end in İzmir the pearl of the Aegean Sea.

You can have the TransAnatolia experience not only as competitor but as guest as well.
This great adventure can be lived by participating with your own vehicle or organization team’s vehicles.
There are the possibilities of scheduled race & stage watchings every day.

Turkey is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa with its endless transportation options.

Land, sea or air transportation options can be used for the transportation of vehicles.

By land Turkey can be reached from neighboring countries. from the sea There are ro-ro ferries operating between Trieste – Pendik / Istanbul (arrival) and Pendik / Istanbul – Trieste (return).

Large-scale airports should be chosen to facilitate procedures. Upon request, TransAnatolia provides an official document for customs clearance.

Competitors are offered the opportunity to stay in 4 and 5 star hotels and camps.

Hotels offer half-board accommodation with breakfast and dinner. At the camp, we have a great catering facility that offers a wide variety of food.

For camping nights, you’ll need a tent and a sleeping bag if you don’t have a caravan.

If you intend to arrive early or leave late, you must pay for the extra nights. If you think of early check-in or late check-out at the hotels we organize, you have to pay for the extra nights. Necessary arrangements can be made upon request.

Breakfast and dinner are provided. On bivouac in addition to breakfast and dinner snacks are available after the last stage of the day.

COSTS

TransAnatolia Rally Competitors