Road rallies – Toniutti wins a special of the Rallye des Volcans for two on a Niken … and regains the taste for life! – Used YAMAHA

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Toniutti wins a special of the Rallye des Volcans for two on a Niken … and finds a taste for life !

Road rallies - Toniutti wins a special of the Rallye des Volcans for two on a Niken ... and regains the taste for life! - Used YAMAHA

Having returned to the Rallye des Volcans with no other pretensions than to have fun, Julien Toniutti offers himself the luxury of winning the eighth and last special in a duo on a three-wheeled Yamaha Niken in front of the solo riders! "I rediscovered the taste for life and I had some answers to my questions", entrusts to MNC the return of the Dakar survivor of a big fall.

While the return to school is already well underway with its procession of clogged administrations, whining of all kinds, abusive fines for a small 139 km / h instead of 130 (132 km / h retained!) During our and whatnot, there is information that is fun to learn, to write and – we hope – to read.

  • MNC special file :
  • MNC special file :

Because this weekend, Julien Toniutti himself, put on his competition jumpsuit for the first time in a year! Engaged in the Rallye des Volcans (non-championship) on the handlebars of a three-wheeled Yamaha Niken, the Lyon pilot took the rally pilot Valeryane Dupuis-Maurin on his passenger seat. And in the last special, bingo: the crew won the scratch by half a second in front of their first pursuer !

"See how far you could push the Niken"

"You were right when you said it was going to start again, even if I no longer believed it after this big crash which had left me with some after-effects in my head", Julien confides to us on his return from Gelles (63). "This special victory on a motorcycle as improbable as the Niken, which is more in a duo and after a year without competition, arouses curiosity", remarks Julien who must now convince his sponsors and partners that he is indeed back !

Road rallies - Toniutti wins a special of the Rallye des Volcans for two on a Niken ... and regains the taste for life! - Used YAMAHA

"I found a taste for life again and I got some answers to my doubts and questions this weekend", Julien confides to us that we will certainly see again at the top of the timesheet, whether in road rally, in road or off-road racing !

  • MNC of February 26, 2019 :
  • MNC of April 24, 2019 :

How did you prepare for the volcanoes rally ?

Julien Toniutti : For more than 12 years that I have been doing road rallying, I have had a kind of my own routine to get in the bath. So for the Volcanoes, I went back to these same habits: arrival on Wednesday evening, reconnaissance of the road course and the stages on Thursday and Friday. The objective was to take some marks of trajectories and rope points. For this rally, it was also necessary to familiarize oneself with driving in a duo, and especially to take the measure of the machine in special. The bike we chose was a Yamaha Niken, so it had three wheels. The engine only produces 115 hp for 263 kg, but its specific front axle immediately gives you confidence. The two front wheels give excellent feedback. The behavior of the Niken is therefore very reassuring and very healthy. We had to see how far we could push it … During these two days of recognition, we just started to discover enormous potential.

How did it feel to restart a race ?

J. T .: It feels good, really! It was the first time I had competed again since the Dakar in January. My last road rally was over a year ago and my last participation in the Duo category was in 2017 with François Speck (the boss of EMC Suspensions, editor’s note). So the important thing was simply to find good feelings again. There was no goal here, apart from the basic pleasure of riding a motorbike with friends. The Volcanoes rally does not count for the French championship. So, even if some top pilots are there, it takes the pressure off the result and the points management that goes with it. The atmosphere is really excellent and relaxed.

How did the rally go ?

J. T .: Good, and even better and better as the stages progress. We started cautiously because the Niken is owned by a dealer (Spring Bike 69) and had to be taken care of and left intact! In SS1, we do the 13th time (2nd in Duo category), then 8th in SS2 (1st in Duo category), 12th in SS3 (1st in Duo category) and 7th in SS4 (1st in Duo category). For the day stage, we therefore won the Duo category and finished in a good 7th place in the general classification. Given the three parameters Duo + Niken + "Stock" preparation, this was already a very good performance! But the most important thing is that as the stages progressed, we gained more and more confidence and more pleasure to ride. And we know that on a motorcycle, those are two key factors in achieving good results. So for the night stage, with Valeryane, we thought we could do even better…

"An extremely positive result for a return to competition!"

Just before SS5 left, the fuse for the additional lights blew. In spite of this we made the 8th fastest time in the special (1st in the Duo category). After changing the fuse between ES5 and ES6, we left completely inflated. We continued with the 4th fastest time in SS6 (1st in Duo category), then another good time in SS7, before finally winning the 8th and final special.

  • Full results :

This is the first time that a "duo" crew has won a scratch stage ahead of all the "solo" drivers. It’s also Niken’s first scratch victory in rallying. Finally, overall, this is the first victory in the Duo category Rally on a Yamaha Niken. With these first three, the results are therefore extremely positive for a return to competition. !

Does this good result make you want to come back to competition for the 2020 season? ?

J. T .: As I said before, it’s still a bit early to talk about it. There is a very big difference between participating once, for fun, in a non-championship rally, and doing a full season of competition. In September – October I will do a few runs on fast circuits. We’ll see if the feeling and the sensations are still there. I want to move forward in stages and we’ll talk about it again at the end of 2019.

Road rallies - Toniutti wins a special of the Rallye des Volcans for two on a Niken ... and regains the taste for life! - Used YAMAHA

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