The Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team, in partnership with Riders for Health (powered by Two Wheels for Life), continued its strong start to the 2026 Carta Rallye in Morocco on Stage 2, with Gautier Paulin securing a superb stage victory, Kevin Gallas finishing fifth, and Alessandro Botturi eighth, while the trio once again completed a lockout of the top three in the Over 450cc class.
Stage 2 saw the bivouac move from Tan Tan Plage to Laâyoune and featured 265 km of special, split into sections of 119 km and 146 km, with 5 km of Liaison A and 48 km of Liaison B for a total distance of 319 km. After a strong opening day for the team, the second stage proved another demanding one, with the riders continuing to battle issues with the electronic navigation tablet while pushing hard in the Moroccan desert.
Paulin delivered an outstanding performance to take the Stage 2 victory with a time of 3 hours, 5 minutes and 11 seconds on his Ténéré 700 Rally, beating his closest rival by one minute and nine seconds. It was another hugely encouraging result for the Frenchman in only his third rally raid, and it moved him up to third overall in the provisional general classification, 13 minutes and 15 seconds from the lead.
Gallas also produced another solid ride despite ongoing issues with the navigation tablet. The German kept things clean and consistent to finish fifth on the stage with a time of 3 hours, 14 minutes and 55 seconds, ending the day nine minutes and 44 seconds from the fastest time. He now sits fourth overall, 17 minutes and 43 seconds behind the rally leader.
Botturi showed good pace too, but a 15-minute penalty for a navigational error dropped the experienced Italian to eighth on the stage with a time of 3 hours, 29 minutes and 55 seconds. Despite that setback, he remains firmly in the fight and lies sixth overall after two days, 28 minutes and seven seconds from the lead.
Stage 3 sees the rally remain in Laâyoune, with a loop stage featuring 290 km of special, a 10 km transfer, and 48 km of liaison for a total of 346 km.
Carta Rallye General Classification After Stage 2
Gautier Paulin – P3 – 5h56m41s
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team
“That was fun. It was not easy, but I am delighted to have won the stage. I worked hard, and while we experienced some issues with the navigation tablet again, I was able to bring it home. The bike was superb, and I am really enjoying being back in the desert. We still have a long way to go, but we will keep pushing as hard as we can.”
Kevin Gallas – P4 – 6h01m09s
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team
“It was another day like yesterday, and we had more issues with the tablet. The Stella was okay, but the tablet odometer was off from the beginning, so I could not really navigate properly at speed. I just focused on my own ride and did not take any risks. Gautier passed me in a very dusty section, so I could not really follow him, but later I was caught by another rider and was able to follow quite easily because there was no dust. I still looked at the navigation a little, but it was off all the time, so I stayed there until the end. It was a pretty uneventful day. The feeling was good, but there were no real improvements on the navigation side, so hopefully it is fixed tomorrow, and we can finally ride the way we know we can.”
Alessandro Botturi – P6 – 6h11m33s
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team
“It was not an easy day because it was fast and quite difficult to navigate. I had a good rhythm and felt fine by the end of the special. I made a lot of mistakes, but I got through the stage, so in the end it is okay, although I received a 15-minute penalty, which is not ideal, but I will come back fighting in Stage 3.”
Marc Bourgeois
Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team – Team Manager
“Gautier won the stage, so that is positive. But we are still having some issues with the new electronic tablet and its software. That is part of the game, and we are here to learn and improve day by day. Tomorrow we will try a different software version on the tablet and see if it works better for our riders. There are pros and cons to each option, so we need to keep working. It was good for Gautier to take the stage win. Kevin was there, but he was not fully comfortable, and we need to help him manage everything. Alessandro made a navigation mistake, so we now need to see exactly what the consequence will be, but overall, we are still in the game, and we keep pushing.”
