Published On: January 22, 2026
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Yamaha Motor Europe announced today Gautier Paulin as teammate of Alessandro Botturi in the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team. The team competes in the Africa Eco Race, which of From January 24th to February 7th the original Dakar route will follow.

Five-time Motocross of Nations winner Gautier Paulin needs no introduction to motocross fans. The Frenchman has a total of 12 GP victories and 30 motocross series wins. However, since retiring as a GP rider in 2021, Paulin has remained active as a brand ambassador.

Paulin gained his first experience with motorcycle rally raiding as a guest rider for the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team at the 2025 Carta Rallye, where he finished third overall and won his class. This introduction left him wanting more, although the Frenchman is well aware of the challenges. Rally raiding is about much more than just speed: endurance is crucial, with stages sometimes exceeding 1.000 kilometers. Moreover, navigation with a roadbook is a completely different discipline than his motocross experience.

35-year-old Paulin is now very familiar with the Ténéré 700 Rally and has been working intensively with the team over the past few months on developing the competition motorcycle. He was able to rely on Botturi's experience, who guides him in navigation and everything he needs to be competitive in rally raid. Incidentally, Paulin has already competed in the Africa Eco Race: in 2024, he won the car class.


Former World Enduro Championship rider Alessandro Botturi  is a multiple Dakar Rally finisher and two-time winner of the Africa Eco Race (2019 and 2020). He's seeking revenge after last year's race, where he led until the final kilometers. However, netting caught in his wheels forced him to stop, ultimately missing out on victory by just 26 seconds. The 50-year-old Italian is feeling strong after a season in which he competed for victory in the Carta Rallye (until a retirement on the final stage), won the Swank Rally, and finished second in the Italian Motor Rally Championship.

The Africa Eco Race takes participants over 6.000 kilometers through some of the world's toughest terrain, largely following the route of the original Paris-Dakar Rally. The 2026 edition will start in Tangier, traverse the Atlas Mountains deep into the Sahara, cross the dunes of Mauritania, and finish after Senegal at the iconic lac rose in Dakar.

In addition to Paulin and Botturi, twelve riders from the Ténéré Spirit Experience program will also be at the start, competing alongside the factory team. Among them Kevin Gallas, winner of the recent Carta Rallye, and Antonio Maio en Mike Weidemann, who each won a stage there. Also Nicholas Charlier, winner of a stage in the Africa Eco Race 2025, returns. In addition, Stephane Peterhansel, fourteen-time Dakar winner, will accompany the team and the TSE riders on some stages.

The 2026 Africa Eco Race begins with technical inspections in Tangier on January 24th, followed by the start on January 25th. After five stages in Morocco and a rest day in Dakhla, the participants will head into Mauritania for another five stages. Then they'll head to Senegal, finishing in Dakar on February 7th.

Gautier Paulin: I'm incredibly excited about this new chapter in my career. I retired from professional motocross racing five years ago, but my passion for racing never faded. As a child, I watched the Dakar Rally with my father, and I've been a rally raid fan ever since. When I got the chance to participate in the development of the new race bike through the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team, I immediately said yes. Then I was offered the opportunity to compete in the Carta Rallye, and that's when I was hooked. Rally raid is completely different from an MXGP race: instead of giving it your all for 45 minutes, you have to manage your pace, endurance, and focus over more than 6.000 kilometers. I know how tough it will be. My riding is good, but my navigation needs to improve. Alessandro and the team have helped me enormously, and I can't wait to get started.

Photos: Or Bauer, Irinia Petrichei