Yamaha Motor Europe announce former MXGP and MXoN winner Gautier Paulin will join Stephane Peterhansel, Kevin Gallas and Alessandro Botturi in the Tenere Yamaha Rally Team to compete in the Africa Eco Race.

Beginning this week in Tangier on January 25 and working its way down the west side of north Africa to finish in Dakar on February 7, the Africa Eco Race is the other major rally-raid for bikes kicking off the year.

Open to a wider range of bikes, including Adventure models, the Tenere Yamaha Rally Team have a large presence in the race with official and supported riders – plus they use the event as part of R&D for the T7 bikes and parts.

The factory supported team at the 2026 AER will include Gautier Paulin who was a guest rider at the 2025 Carta Rallye, where he finished third overall and secured the class victory. Paulin has been working with teamamte Alessandro Botturi and the team over the last few months to develop the race bike. The Frenchman also competed in the Africa Eco Race (AER) before, winning the 2024 edition in the car category.

Botturi, a multiple Dakar finisher and two-time winner of the AER in 2019 and 2020, is looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking finish at last year’s AER. Not quite as dramatically close as this years Dakar finish, Botturi was leading the rally until the last few kilometres, when netting became caught up in his wheels. He had to stop to remove it, and the time lost meant he agonisingly missed out on the victory by just 26 seconds.

Gallas and Peterhansel onboard 

The duo will be joined at the AER by 12 Ténéré Spirit Experience (TSE) riders, who compete in the race alongside the official team, including Kevin Gallas, who rode the Ténéré to victory at the recent Carta Rallye, plus Antonio Maio and Mike Weidemann, who both won stages at the event. Nicholas Charlier, who won stage five of the 2025 edition of the AER, will also return, while Mr Dakar himself, 14-time winner Stephane Peterhansel, will join the team and TSE riders for a few stages during the race.

Africa Eco Race covers more than 6000km famously along the route of the original Paris-Dakar rallies. The 2026 edition starts in Tangiers, before crossing the Atlas Mountains and heading deep into the Sahara. Competitors then take on Mauritania,before crossing into Senegal to finish by the famous Lac Rose in Dakar.

Gautier Paulin, Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team: “I have been a fan of rally raid since I watched the Dakar with my father as a child. Therefore, when I had the opportunity through the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team to help develop the new race bike, I immediately said, “Yes!” Then they invited me to take part in the Carta Rallye earlier in the year (2025), and I was hooked.”

Marc Bourgeois, Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team – Team Manager: “It is very exciting to welcome Gautier to the team, alongside Alessandro, for the 2026 Africa Eco Race. It will be a significant challenge for him to transition into rally raid, but he has already impressed not only with his performance at the Carta Rallye but also with his role in developing the official Ténéré 700 Rally race bike.

“We have 12 riders joining us from the Ténéré Spirit Experience: 11 in the Race category and 1 in the Raid, who will experience all the highs and lows of rally raid alongside the team. We have been preparing for this race for the last twelve months, and we are ready to go!”

Photo Credit: Edo Bauer + Irina Petrichei