The Aprilia Tuareg 660 is Becoming a Formidable Rally Bike

The Aprilia Tuareg 660 has won the Baja Aragon's multi-cylinder class in another display of the off-road potential of the Noale brand’s middleweight adventure bike.

There is no doubt that the Tuareg 660 is in the mix of the best sub-1000cc adventure bikes on the market at the moment, along with the Husqvarna Norden 901 and Yamaha Tenere 700 (in whichever variant you like), for example.

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Not many of the Tuareg’s competitors have been tested in the way the Italian bike has, though.

When Yamaha dropped its 450cc rally project a couple of years ago, it put its full off-road effort into cherry-picking showpiece events at which to demonstrate the potential of its Tenere 700 adventure bike in full-factory rally-spec form. Harley-Davidson and Triumph have done similar things with their respective adventure machines, and last year Aprilia went down the same path.

Already, the Tuareg has become one of the most successful rally bikes of the past couple of years.

Last year’s Transanatolia Rally was the first for Aprilia’s Tuareg programme that took the bike outside of Europe, and it finished on the podium behind only the factory Yamahas.

In January, it took to Africa for the first time, and won out overall in the Africa Eco Race ahead of Yamaha’s factory duo, Alessandro Botturi and Pol Tarres, with its rider, the experienced Jacopo Cerutti.

Last week, at the Baja Aragon — an event previously selected by the aforementioned Harley-Davidson for its Maxi Trail-class Pan America — Aprilia was on top again, taking a 1-2 finish in the Spanish desert in the Multicylinder class.

Again, it was Cerruti who took victory for Aprilia, winning ahead of his teammate Francesco Montanari, who took an in-class finish of second, and an 18th-place overall finish, in his first attempt at the Baja Aragon.

“It was a great race, I had fun,” Cerruti said. “The rally was extremely physical in spite of being short, and it was also complicated because the cars went ahead of us on both Saturday and Sunday, making the terrain truly difficult. I am extremely satisfied and pleased with the way the bike performed.”

Francesco Montanari added: “It went rather well. I’m pleased with the race and with the pace. We did an outstanding job and it was a good test in view of the upcoming events. Over the coming months, we’ll be working hard to improve even more.”