Sardina Rally Champion Alessandro Botturi is now a Yamaha factory rider alongside Olivier Pain and Michael Metge.
Off-road racer Alessandro Botturi of Italy, the 2014 Sardinia Rally Champion, will join Olivier Pain and Michael Metge on the Yamaha Factory Racing/Yamalube rally team for the 2014-2015 rally-raid season, according to an announcement made by the team today.
“I am really happy to join the Yamaha Factory Racing Team, an opportunity I have waited for a long time,” Botturi said. “This team is like a big family, and I will do what is necessary to give the maximum. The team has won many races, which I was able to talk about with [Stephane] Peterhansel when we both raced in the Enduro World Championship. For sure, my goal is to win races, but I’ll take the time necessary for that. Many great Italian racers rode for Yamaha so it’s a dream come true to continue this tradition.”
Botturi developed two passions very early in life: rugby and off-road motorcycling. At 21 years old, he was part of the Italian Junior Rugby Team, the famous Squadra Azzura, but the lure of motorcycle racing was strong, and Botturi left rugby behind to commit himself to enduro competition. Between 1998 and 2011, he won an impressive nine championship titles in Italy and landed on three World Championship podiums. He has also been a 15-time member of the national team at the ISDE.
In 2012, Botturi raced his first Dakar, finishing eighth and taking “Best Rookie” honors. He also competed in the rally of Sardinia in 2013, and in 2014 he won the event, beating the world’s best rally racers in the process.
Botturi’s strong results and vast potential are what attracted him to the Yamaha Factory team. Now aboard, he will reaffirm Yamaha’s three-rider attack with Pain and Metge. Botturo will make his debut with the team at The Rally of Morocco, October 3-9, and he will hardly have a break before returning to action in the Merzouga Rally, October 20-24. The underlying strategy at both events will be to prepare Botturi and his equipment for the Dakar Rally, which begins January 3, 2015, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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