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Unstoppable In Greece
In the mountains of central Greece , Jacopo Cerutti and Francesco Montanari , in the saddle of the Aprilia Tuareg 660 , pulled a great performance out of the bag in the Hellas Rally Raid , finishing in first and second in the M6 class dedicated to twin-cylinder bikes .
The rain that had fallen in the days preceding the race had made the ground extremely slippery , but the Aprilia Racing Tuareg rose to the occasion despite the conditions . The ground improved in subsequent days , enabling Cerutti and Montanari to show their potential and finish the 1850km without setbacks .
At the end of the seven stages , Cerutti was crowned winner of the M6 category , giving Aprilia Tuareg Racing another important victory . In the overall classification , Cerutti finished fourth .
“ It was a challenging seven days ," Cerutti explained . " Overall , it went really well . I kept a good pace and didn ’ t make many mistakes . I was close to the podium in the overall classification – just 50 seconds away – but I gave it my all and didn ’ t quite manage it in the end . The team worked very well together ."
Meanwhile , during his first experience in this rally , Montanari also put on an excellent performance , completing the one-two in the M6 class , and coming eighth place in the overall classification .
“ It was an amazing experience ," Montanari said after the finish . " The standard was very high , and my performance got better and better . The marathon days were very positive , but they were certainly hard as they were very long . I made a small mistake when I fell in the special long stage but , although I lost a lot of time , I still did well ."
Aprilia have been using such events to test the Tuareg as a viable contender for a true off road machine , winning such an event as the Hellas Rally suggests they are on the right path .
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