The Tunisia Desert Challenge is living up to its "extreme" Rally Raid moniker. The 350km Stage 4 and 300km Stage 5 involved some of the toughest sections encountered by the team in Rally Raid, and with temperatures soaring in the desert to 35 degrees Celsius, the conditions are genuinely harsh. Enormous soft dunes and tricky technical rocky sections took their toll, and after the tragic passing of a rider during the third stage, some sections were reduced in distance. Stage 4 saw the rally travel from Matous to Ksar Ghilane, with the fifth stage starting and finishing at the Ksar Ghilane bivouac. On top of the rugged terrain and extreme heat, massive sandstorms hit the Tunisian Desert on Tuesday and Wednesday, making some sections almost unrideable and leading to the cancellation of Stage 6 from Ksar Ghilane to Douz.
Botturi carries on undeterred, though, the Italian showing just how capable he and his Ténéré 700 World Raid are by finishing in the top five in every stage so far. His ability to stay calm, assess situations using all of his experience and bring his bike home show his true class. In his many years of racing, the 46-year-old admits that the last few days have been some of the most demanding he has been involved in, which makes his consistency even more admirable.
He finished Stage 4 in fifth with a time of 3h 10' 41", eight minutes and 15 seconds behind the winner, and was on the podium again for Stage 5 in third, after 4h 49' 46" of riding despite a small crash towards the end. He now leads the overall standings with a combined time of 20h 06' 46", nine minutes and seven seconds ahead of the next-best rider.
For Tarres, making his Rally Raid debut in the TDC has been a baptism of fire. The talented Spaniard has shown everyone how his sensational trials and enduro skills make him a rally natural, but he has not been able to get a break. It is not just his technical ability that has been highlighted at the rally, as the mental fortitude he has displayed has also been incredible. After being taken out by a quad bike on Stage 3 and having to ride 300km without any navigational tools and still finishing in a respectable seventh place, he was determined to make up time during Monday's stage, but it was not meant to be.
A technical issue with the clutch on his Ténéré while riding in the dunes during Stage 4 meant he could not continue. After trying his best to fix the problem but to no avail, he had to spend eight hours stranded in the desert waiting for a pickup, yet when he made it back, all he could think about was getting back on his machine and going again. Sitting out Stage 5 while the team worked on his bike, the 28-year-old was looking forward to Wednesday's Stage 6, but its cancellation meant he will have to wait until Thursday to get back into the action. As he did not finish Stage 4, Tarres can continue to ride in the TDC, but his times will not count towards the overall classification.
Stage 7 sees the TDC restart after taking a day off on Wednesday due to the cancelled stage, with a 56km Liaison to the start line in Douz, before 360km of soft sand and dusty trails from the city to the iconic filming location of the Star Wars movies. Everyone in the Yamaha Ténéré World Raid Team offers their sincere condolences to the family, friends and team of French rider Matthieu de Saint-Exupéry, who sadly passed away on Sunday's Stage 3.
