Gautier Paulin is relatively new to rally raid, but he is already a winner. Although not as flashy as his team-mate and World Rally Championship driver Pierre-Louis Loubet, he was the overall leader among four-wheelers for all but the opening stage en route to winning the 2024 Africa Eco Race.
Paulin, a five-time Motocross des Nations champion and FIM Motocross World Championship alumnus, was running his maiden rally raid in the AER, which follows the original Dakar Rally route from Europe to Dakar, Senegal. He and Loubet were racing the Apache APH-01, a hybrid SSV that uses both electric and internal combusion engines, in just its second race. Although the 6,000-kilometre Africa Eco Race was much longer than the Baja Portalegre 500 where the Apache made its début, Paulin and Loubet put on a clinic as they combined to win seven stages.
Although Loubet had five victories, a series of mechanical issues in Stage #3 knocked him to the bottom of the T3 category where he eventually finished eleventh overall and last in his class. Loubet is also a newcomer to the discipline.
With Loubet out of the picture, Paulin finished fifth in the opening stage before passing Carlos Vento for the lead the following day and never looking back. His co-driver Rémi Boulanger originally had plans of racing the 2024 Dakar Rally before joining Apache for the “real” Dakar; brother Édouard Boulanger is currently competing in the Dakar in Saudi Arabia as the navigator for Stéphane Peterhansel.
“Rémi, you’re an experienced guy, but Gautier, honestly, I didn’t think you were going to do so well,” Peterhansel remarked. “You had a perfect race, became a true rally raid driver, and I hope in any case that you both had a lot of fun. Congratulations again to you both on a great result. I’m really proud. That’s cool.”
Pascal Feryn won the final two stages to place runner-up to Paulin; his Feryn Dakar Sport team-mate Koen Wauters claimed Stage #5, on the same day that his former Dakar navigator Jackie Loomans passed away at the age of 71. Wauters, a musician, withdrew from the race two days later to perform with De Vrienden van Amstel in the Netherlands. The team would probably be competing at the Dakar Rally, which began a week after the Africa Eco Race, had they not been barred from the 2023 edition by the FIA.
Tomáš Tomeček notched his third win in the Truck class.
82-year-old Yoshimasa Sugawara, who holds the record for most Dakar Rallies started with thirty-six from 1983 to 2019, finished twenty-first overall in a Suzuki Jimny. He did not have any mechanics on his team, prompting him and co-driver Naoko Roquet to make repairs themselves.
“I’m glad I was able to reach the goal safely,” said Sugawara. “I was in great shape. I was the only one to race without a mechanic. It was truly an ‘eco race.’
“We are delighted that the Jimny, a kei car that is the pride of Japan, was able to completely complete the race from the start, passing through all the sand dunes.”
On the two-wheel side, Jacopo Cerutti led the overall from start to finish, but he also had to fend off the decorated Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team duo of Alessandro Botturi and Pol Tarrés for the win. Cerutti and his Aprilia Tuareg faced margins as close as one minute following Stage #7 before Botturi received a six-minute penalty two days later that dropped him from the stage win to third.
Aprilia Racing, more known for their MotoGP programme, founded a rally raid division in 2023 in partnership with GCorse. The factory team enjoyed success in their first year by winning the Italian Motorally Championship followed by podiuming at the Transanatolia Rally in Turkey before taking on the AER in its first desert race.
“In very little time, we reached incredible milestones and I honestly did not think that we would manage to be as ready as we were at the start of this event,” commented Cerutti. “However, I knew that the factory Tuareg already provided us with an outstanding starting base and then the rest is down to the great job the entire team did over the past few months.
“I certainly didn’t expect to win. Maybe starting the race without the pressure of being one of the favourites was a good thing and a bit of good luck also helped, which is never a bad thing because in an African raid, the unexpected is always just around the corner, but instead, everything seemed to go smoothly.”
Like how Aprilia is more savvy on pavement but has a burgeoning rally arm, Harley-Davidson successfully reached the finish with Joan Pedrero on his Pan America 1250. He was the only competitor in the 1000cc class.
While the bike class was mainly dominated by Cerutti and the Yamahas, the paraplegic Nicola Dutto won the final stage in the run to Lac Rose in Dakar. The effort came two months after he finished the second longest Baja 1000 course in history, with his shadow riders Rubén Saldaña Goñi and Julián Villarrubia Garcia bringing him to the finish.
Marco Aurelio Fontana, a former Olympic bronze medalist in cross-country mountain biking, finished sixth. He was the highest running Honda bike.
Amine Echiguer, winner of the 2022 World Rally-Raid Championship in Rally3, retired from his AER début after his rear wheel and shock broke during Stage #3. He had been leading the Over 450cc category prior to his exit. Guillaume Borne, another competitor with W2RC experience, also bowed out.
“The majority of the bikes here are real Rally bikes, not DIY enduros like mine so no one to bother us,” Echiguer explained.
The Africa Eco Race was moved from its original March 2023 slot to January 2024 due to heavy flooding in Dakar.
Stage winners
| Stage | Date | Route | Auto/Truck Winner | Time | Bike Winner | Time |
| Stage #1 | 2 January | Nador → Boudenib | Carlos Vento | 1:58:17 | Jacopo Cerutti | 1:54:09 |
| Stage #2 | 3 January | Boudenib → M’Hamid | Pierre-Louis Loubet | 4:41:35 | Jacopo Cerutti | 4:11:50 |
| Stage #3 | 4 January | M’Hamid → Oued Draa | Gautier Paulin | 6:06:08 | Alessandro Botturi | 5:37:23 |
| Stage #4 | 5 January | Oued Draa → Fort Chacal | Pierre-Louis Loubet | 5:27:25 | Jacopo Cerutti | 5:00:40 |
| Stage #5 | 6 January | Fort Chacal → Dakhla | Koen Wauters | 3:31:53 | Alessandro Botturi | 3:31:53 |
| Stage #6 | 8 January | Dakhla → Chami | Pierre-Louis Loubet | 1:46:21 | Pol Tarrés | 1:51:53 |
| Stage #7 | 9 January | Chami → Chami | Pierre-Louis Loubet | 4:42:08 | Alessandro Botturi | 4:35:20 |
| Stage #8 | 10 January | Chami → Amojjar | Jorge Brandao | 4:25:15 | Pol Tarrés | 4:12:50 |
| Stage #9 | 11 January | Amojjar → Amojjar | Pierre-Louis Loubet | 4:40:59 | Jacopo Cerutti | 4:27:14 |
| Stage #10 | 12 January | Amojjar → Akjoujt | Gautier Paulin | 1:50:46 | Alessandro Botturi | 1:43:45 |
| Stage #11 | 13 January | Akjoujt → Boubene | Pascal Feryn | 2:16:04 | Pol Tarrés | 2:15:15 |
| Stage #12 | 14 January | Boubene → Dakar | Pascal Feryn | 12:23 | Nicola Dutto | 16:09 |
2024 Africa Eco Race results
Auto/Truck
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Class | Class Finish | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 260 | Gautier Paulin | Rémi Boulanger | Apache Automotive | T3 | 1 | 43:32:00 | Leader |
| 2 | 210 | Pascal Feryn | Kurt Keysers | Feryn Dakar Sport | T1 | 1 | 47:17:08 | + 3:45:08 |
| 3 | 256 | Carlos Vento | Carlos Ruiz Moreno | Old Friends Rally Team | T4 | 1 | 48:41:09 | + 5:09:09 |
| 4 | 400 | Tomáš Tomeček | Promet Czechoslovak Group Team | T5 | 1 | 49:45:56 | + 6:13:56 | |
| 5 | 401 | Aad Van Velsen | Michel Van Velsen, Marco Siemons | Van Velsen Rally Sport | T5 | 2 | 52:02:05 | + 8:30:05 |
| 6 | 254 | Frederic Henricy | Eric Bersey | AT4R | SSV | 1 | 52:22:11 | + 8:50:11 |
| 7 | 207 | Teun Stam | René Bargeman | Schijf Rally | T1 | 2 | 52:51:18 | + 9:19:18 |
| 8 | 403 | Cédric Feryn | Bjorn Burgelman, Tom De Leeuw | Feryn Dakar Sport | T5 | 3 | 57:21:21 | + 13:49:21 |
| 9 | 252 | Rui Oliveira | Bernardo Oliveira | Old Friends Rally Team | T3 | 2 | 57:34:37 | + 14:02:37 |
| 10 | 257 | Jorge Brandao | Ricardo Sousa | Old Friends Rally Team | T3 | 3 | 58:54:35 | + 15:22:35 |
| 11 | 261 | Pierre-Louis Loubet | François Borsotto | Apache Automotive | T3 | 4 | 58:59:58 | + 21:29:21 |
| 12 | 200 | Imre Varga | Toma József | Varga Racing Team | T1 | 3 | 65:01:21 | + 28:16:02 |
| 13 | 259 | Souad Mouktadiri | Frederic Villers d’Arbouet | Souad | T4 | 2 | 71:48:02 | + 29:20:26 |
| 14 | 435 | Giulio Verzeletti | Giuseppa Fortuna | Orobica Raid | T5 | 4 | 72:52:26 | + 41:51:42 |
| 15 | 253 | Heathcliff Zingraf | Gregory Revest | Casteu Trophy | T4 | 3 | 85:23:42 | + 44:18:47 |
| 16 | 255 | Philippe Champigne | Bruno Robin | Team Adventure 79 | SSV | 2 | 87:50:47 | + 44:18:47 |
| 17 | 205 | Stefano Rossi | Jacopo Casini | Rossi 4×4 ASD | Experimental | 1 | 89:59:14 | + 46:27:14 |
| 18 | 209 | Eric Coquide | Gregoire Coquide | Renault Trucks Rallye Raid | Open | 1 | 98:36:18 | + 55:04:18 |
| 19 | 409 | Franck Coquide | Jean-François Delaval, Daniel Penkalla | Renault Trucks Rallye Raid | T5 | 5 | 103:44:04 | + 60:12:04 |
| 20 | 433 | Antonio Cabini | Carlo Cabini, Raffaella Cabini | Orobica Raid | T5 | 6 | 107:38:03 | + 64:06:03 |
| 21 | 208 | Yoshimasa Sugawara | Naoko Roquet | Equipe Sugawara | Open | 2 | 115:53:12 | + 72:21:12 |
| 22 | 204 | Bernard Andriuex | Jean-Pierre Armandet | TTP | Open | 3 | 173:41:00 | + 130:09:00 |
| DNF | 206 | Willem Alexander Telle | Servaas Van Herk | WUTA Rallysport | Open | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 220 | Koen Wauters | Kurt Keysers | Feryn Dakar Team | T1 | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 250 | Eric Schiano | Camile Pourchier | Harmat Team Racing | T3 | N/A | DNF | N/A |
Moto
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Class | Class Finish | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 111 | Jacopo Cerutti | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 700cc | 1 | 39:52:49 | Leader |
| 2 | 103 | Alessandro Botturi | Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team | 700cc | 2 | 39:59:27 | + 6:38 |
| 3 | 113 | Pol Tarrés | Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team | 700cc | 3 | 40:17:58 | + 25:09 |
| 4 | 131 | Alexandre Vaudan | Casteu Trophy | Under 450cc | 1 | 44:22:39 | + 4:29:50 |
| 5 | 136 | Attilo Fert | France Road Book | Under 450cc | 2 | 45:27:52 | + 5:35:03 |
| 6 | 144 | Marco Aurelio Fontana | RS Moto | Under 450cc | 3 | 45:47:08 | + 5:54:19 |
| 7 | 181 | Marco Menichini | Solarys Racing | Under 450cc | 4 | 45:55:33 | + 6:02:44 |
| 8 | 122 | Francesco Montanari | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 700cc | 4 | 47:46:06 | + 7:53:17 |
| 9 | 124 | Nicolas Charlier | Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team | 700cc | 5 | 47:48:57 | + 7:56:08 |
| 10 | 128 | Nicola Quinto | Jacque de Molay | Under 450cc | 5 | 48:15:33 | + 8:22:44 |
| 11 | 143 | Kevin Durand | RS Moto | Under 450cc | 6 | 50:28:02 | + 10:35:13 |
| 12 | 146 | Jan Hendrik Erbach | Solarys Racing | Under 450cc | 7 | 51:20:47 | + 11:27:58 |
| 13 | 148 | Patrick Carillon | SARL Hôtel des Sources | Under 450cc | 8 | 51:29:34 | + 11:36:45 |
| 14 | 145 | Nuno Silva | Old Friends Rally Team | Under 450cc | 9 | 53:16:03 | + 13:23:14 |
| 15 | 140 | Antoine Detourbet | Antoine Detourbet | Under 450cc | 10 | 53:24:41 | + 13:31:52 |
| 16 | 115 | Angelo Tazzari | Twinsbike Racing Team | 700cc | 6 | 54:06:10 | + 14:13:21 |
| 17 | 127 | Giovanni Stigliano | JBRally | Over 450cc | 1 | 54:22:50 | + 14:30:01 |
| 18 | 120 | Nicolas Bottu | United We Trace | Under 450cc | 11 | 54:54:52 | + 15:02:03 |
| 19 | 186 | Richard Skarpaas | A4pluss | Under 450cc | 12 | 55:18:40 | + 15:25:51 |
| 20 | 163 | Paolo Caprioni | Team Kapriony | 700cc | 7 | 57:21:23 | + 17:28:34 |
| 21 | 174 | Francesco Muratori | NSM Racing Team | Under 450cc | 13 | 57:22:07 | + 17:29:18 |
| 22 | 193 | Giovanni Gritti | RS Moto | Under 450cc | 14 | 58:36:06 | + 18:43:17 |
| 23 | 141 | Alessandro Rigoni | Solarys Racing | Under 450cc | 15 | 59:04:14 | + 19:11:25 |
| 24 | 179 | Pierpaolo Vivaldi | Twinsbike Racing Team | Under 450cc | 16 | 64:38:44 | + 24:45:55 |
| 25 | 105 | Joan Pedrero | Harley-Davidson | 1000cc | 1 | 66:55:56 | + 27:03:07 |
| 26 | 123 | Robert Van Olst | Wood BV | Under 450cc | 17 | 67:27:56 | + 27:35:07 |
| 27 | 134 | Thierry Costard | LDZ56 | Under 450cc | 18 | 67:33:45 | + 27:40:56 |
| 28 | 107 | Stefano Chiussi | Offroad Crew | Over 450cc | 2 | 71:26:36 | + 31:33:47 |
| 29 | 157 | Vanessa Ruck | The Girl On A Bike | Under 450cc | 19 | 75:53:51 | + 36:01:02 |
| 30 | 137 | Nicola Dutto | Offroad Crew | Over 450cc | 3 | 107:15:15 | + 67:22:26 |
| 31 | 139 | Rubén Saldaña Goñi | Offroad Crew | Over 450cc | 4 | 107:19:15 | + 67:26:26 |
| 32 | 138 | Julián Villarrubia Garcia | Offroad Crew | Over 450cc | 5 | 107:21:30 | + 67:28:41 |
| 33 | 178 | Gunter Schmutz | Malle Moto | Under 450cc | 20 | 112:37:35 | + 72:44:46 |
| DNF | 114 | Alessandro Ruoso | Twinsbike Racing Team | 700cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 119 | Pietro Peila Ugo Domenico | Offroad Crew | Under 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 125 | Guillaume Borne | Casteu Trophy | Under 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 133 | Andrea Gava | NSM Racing Team | Over 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 135 | Bruno Arcuri | Orobica Raid | Under 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 142 | Francesco Tognato | Team ICE | Under 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 165 | Rafael Gomez Cuesta | Offroad Crew | Under 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 171 | Massimiliano Guerrini | Solarys Racing | Under 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 177 | Ai Tanaka | AI78 | Over 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 185 | Jochaim Hellstein | A4pluss | Under 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 190 | Francesco Puocci | Team Puocci | Open | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 195 | Timothy Bradshaw | Moto Joe | Open | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 196 | Amine Echiguer | Amine Echiguer | Over 450cc | N/A | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 199 | Laurent Hellemans | Hellau | Quad | N/A | DNF | N/A |