Ténéré Rally Challenge 2021 - who's signing up?

[HugoB]

Yamaha Italy has done something pretty cool and set up a Ténéré Rally Challenge for this 2021 season articulated on 5 races and divided in 2 classes. The first class is dedicated to amateur riders and will consist in racing simply using a GPS so for example any GPS that reads GPX files, potentially could even be a tablet, the route will be easy off-road. The second class is considered the Pro class where riders will race with a roadbook holder and navigate through the entire same route that the National Rally Championship does. 

 

2021 RALLY CHALLENGE CALENDAR

27/28 March | Scarlino (GR) – Tuscany (ITALY)

01/02 May | Sardinia (ITALY)

26/27 June | Roccamontepiano (CH) – Abruzzo (ITALY)

10/11 July | Pellegrino Parmense (PR) – Emilia Romagna (ITALY)

17/18/19 September | Spoleto (PG) – Umbria (ITALY)


To enter the event you need:

1) CERTIFICATO MEDICO IDONEITÀ AGONISTICA (VISITA TIPO B – MOTOCICLISMO FUORISTRADA)

(medical certificate, got mine yesterday, its basically a visit to the doctor, was in and out in 20 min)
2) Licenza agonistica FMI Fuoristrada Amatoriale 75,00€

(or any international motoclub, for insurance stuff and such I'm assuming)
3) Scaricare il modulo di iscrizione qui: www.yamaha-motor.eu/it/it/Experiences/Ev...it/challenge/modulo/

(file this and send to Yamaha to sign up)

 

Usefull links and info: 

 

general rules and info:

https://issuu.com/yamahamotoreuropen.v.filialeitalia/docs/yamaha_motor_-_regolamento_challange?fr=sMzM0MDE2MjM4MjQ

 

event website from Yamaha: 
https://www.yamaha-motor.eu/it/it/Experiences/Eventi-ProgettiSpeciali/tenere-spirit/challenge/

 

 

 

I'm waiting for my paperwork to arrive for the racing licence and should be good to go. 

 

 

Who else is joining? 

 

 

Cheers

Hugo

 

 

 

 

[HugoB]

small update:

 

start of the event was postponed due to corona situation (super lucky for me because all my paperwork wasn't ready yet)

 

the first stage is now  Scarlino (GR) – Tuscany (ITALY).  24 & 25 April 

 

and luckily I'm signed up and can't wait to go. 

 

planning on riding there a day before in one haul(800km) and camp there somewhere, do the 2 day event and then follow an offroad trail(the Italian ACT) all the way back(maybe a week).

 

been preparing the bike a bit. 

 

mods: uprated rear spring, was quite easy to fit.

(using a carjack to compress the spring to take it out. learned from this guy

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn7vI271K2o&t=668s)

 

some vinyl stickering randomly just to protect panels from possible rubbing and chafing from reckless 10 + tent and sleeping gear in the beavertail)

 

one mitas e13 for the front and an e09 Dakar for the rear + heavy duty tubes (still have to install)

 

 

and I think that's it for now...

 

working on a toolkit though, im thinking about just bringing some small tools and zip ties and super basic stuff. generally weight and plus, the tenere don't break anyway   (famous last words broken water pump)(I hope not xD)

 

anyone of you guys joining the event? or a little cruise on the ACT trail? 

 

also any tips would be much welcomed, literally never done anything like this so I'm not a 100% sure what to do and what not.

 

cheers 

Hugo

 

 

ps in the picture is just a half assed test if it would pack, the test passed so It will be somewhat more refined before departure...I hope  

Edited April 8, 2021 by HugoB
add clarification for crappy packing of luggage

[tenerecanada]

Looking for some updates! I hope your preparations have went well so far.

[HugoB]

First race was awesome, bent front rim and my bike looks 10 years older now though

 

[HugoB]

a small write up of the T7 challenge in Scarlino. 

 

the event itself was very cool since it is a separate trophy inside the national Italian rally championship. 

 

I rode all the way there(1000km give or take) since I don’t own a van or any other means of transportation for my bike.  About 30% road and 70% off-road which was great for getting back into it since I hadn’t ridden in a while. (Felt like a rally before the rally). 

 

riding there turned out to be quite demanding on the tyres and since the speeds and the ripping,  the mitas E09 turned into a street slick tyres after the first race day. Luckily one of the teams gave me a 908 for the second race day and for the drive home. Which was still fine after I got home and I think this is a fantastic tyre, quite some steps up in quality compared to the mitas. 

 

at first it took some figuring out how all the time zones and special tests worked etc, but that all became pretty clear pretty quickly. Also everybody was pretty friendly and the camaraderie was there. 

 

the special tests were quite fast and full out except the first one, which was slower and more technical single track, rocks, deep mud, ruts, river crossings etc etc (this was my favourite one I finished 12th in this one even though to an unfortunate navigation mistake that cost me time and also one fall because someone in front of me fell and to avoid him I dropped the bike as this was on the exit of a muddy muddy river crossing. Forgot to turn abs back on and some cursing etc etc,, but all was good. Full gas once more. Then it was the end of this special test full speed ahead. 

The liaisons were also very cool and mainly off-road through breathtaking scenery and the required time for the next checkpoints were at a leisurely pace. In all if I remember correctly the first day was around 300 -350 Km( not sure though maybe I’ll see if I can find the GPX tracks and post them here) 

 

the terrain was in these two days incredibly diverse, from lush forest to Sandy hills and basically everything in between and more.  Traversing Tuscany as never seen before. (In all honesty I was surprised by all the off-road this region had to offer and the diversity of it) 

 

I ended 15th in the second special test which was high speed sandy lose soil. 

Some of the guys were really going full gas and doing some amazing riding. One of these older riders even did a Dakar back in the day. Felt pretty good for the ego to start close to him the second day as the starting orders change based on the results of the first day. (My ego decided to ignore the fact that compared to me he was basically a geriatric cruising at 30% and I was going full gas at 90% and 30 years of age difference ) 

 

In the evening it was time some beers in the paddock and a tyre change, off to eat something and bed. 

 

the next day,

 

The weather was like an early summer day in the south of Italy. Not a cloud in the sky and birds whistling. It wasn’t necessarily a blessing as this made it very dusty and demanding on the eyes. 

At least for me this was the big problem I ran into because of a personal mistake. 

I rode there with my shoei touring helmet because for travelling alone it’s quite nice to flip it open and have the visor etc. With the dust this was horrible. Couldn’t see with it open because of the dust in the air. Couldn’t see with it closed because of the dust inside and outside the helmet accumulating everywhere. So not seeing was exhausting and made riding hard and made me nervous. 19th place first special test. 

my eyes so tired I could barely see the road and where I was riding on the liaison, they informed us there was too much time delay due to accidents and problems with the other categories so the last special test was cancelled(I was quite happy for this) (but not for the accidents of course! Quite some people hospitalised, bikes taking a beating and absurdly even a deer jumped onto the track during a high speed part of a special test and a rider needed surgery for a broken hip after crashing into it. Don’t know about the deer though. 

 

An event like this is quite demanding on man and machine but both have performed better than expected . 

 

I hope this is of interest 

thank you 

Hugo 

[HugoB]

[HugoB]

[HugoB]

 

the road helmet sticks out like a sore thumb in these pictures I know

anyway lessons learned and onto the next! 

[Landshark]

Thanks for the write up on your adventure.  This is not something I would do at my age, however, I'll live it through your experience.  Thanks for pics too.