YAMAHA TÉNÉRÉ 700 WORLD RAID

The arrival of the two Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid rally factory bikes in the Djerba bivouac caused a buzz.

- JM Staelens

The surprise announcement that Yamaha was entering its popular mass-produced twin-cylinder adventure bike in the Tunisia Desert Challenge, a grueling eight-day desert race across the dunes in the Sahara, lit up the global motorsports media as it came on the heels of the shockwave news of Yamaha's withdrawal from the Dakar Rally (after participating for 40 years!) as well as the FIM Cross-Country Rally World Championship.

Walking into the bivouac upon arrival in Djerba, the first thing I wanted to see was these two Ténéré 700 World Raid factory rally bikes. I was certain they'd only share a cosmetic resemblance with the standard T700WR. Although they might share their DNA with the stock models, surely the blue body panels would hide the fact that there was not a single OEM part to be found. I was convinced they were totally redesigned, hand-built race bikes that had never come near a factory assembly line. In other words, purebred racing pedigree unobtainium!

And I could not have been more wrong. Conducting daily interviews with Alessandro Botturi and Pol Tarrés, the Yamaha factory riders competing in the Tunisia Desert Challenge (TDC), along with amiable team manager Manuel Lucchese, I learned the Ténéré 700 World Raid factory rally bikes are indeed unique and special, but not for the reasons I'd assumed. Contrary to my belief, they started life as standard models, coming off the same assembly line as every other Ténéré 700 sold in the global market, and are far closer to the stock models than one might assume.