You have to feel a little bit of sympathy for Yamaha racer Alessandro Botturi. Sure, he's been riding in the top three all throughout the 2024 Africa Eco Race so far. He's won multiple stages, too. In fact, he's performed so well that he was the rare rider who hadn't had any time penalties assessed against him during this event; that is, until Stage Nine.
For the stage, the 2024 Africa Eco Race field did a loop around the city of Amodjar in Mauritania. A beautiful place, but also a hot and challenging one for the riders. Technically, Botturi did finish ahead of his two closest rivals. However, a six-minute speed penalty knocked his time back down, and it was Jacopo Cerutti on his Aprilia Tuareg 660 that picked up the official stage win.
Leading from the front of the pack is one thing, but one of the most fun things to watch in racing is redemption runs. When you have a rider start from somewhere in the back, and then they're able to steadily overtake until they finish in a much better spot than they started, it's what makes racing fun. No one likes a parade, right?
Remember Joan Pedrero and his Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250? It's a massive machine compared to many of his competitors, but Pedrero has been cementing both his and the Pan America's bona fides in rally raids for the past couple of years. At the beginning of Stage Nine of the 2024 AER, he started in 23rd place. Even though he briefly crashed during the stage, he somehow managed to keep his eyes on the prize and finish in ninth place for the stage. That's a 14-place jump. Impressive, if we do say so ourselves.
Here are the top 10 riders in the 2024 Africa Eco Race for Stage Nine.
| Racer | Team | Time |
| Jacopo Cerutti | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 04:27:14 |
| Pol Tarrés | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 04:29:19 |
| Alessandro Botturi | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 04:31:15 |
| Marco Aurelio Fontana | Honda Genuine Oil | 04:43:52 |
| Marco Menichini | Solarys Racing | 04:47:28 |
| Alexandre Vaudan | Casteu Trophy | 04:55:40 |
| Attilio Fert | France Road Book | 04:56:17 |
| Giovanni Gritti | RSMoto Racing Team Honda Oil | 04:58:41 |
| Joan Pedrero Garcia | Harley-Davidson | 05:20:52 |
| Kevin Durand | RS Moto | 05:25:08 |
2024 Africa Eco Race Overall Rider Standings After Stage Nine
The penalty assessed against Botturi for Stage Nine means that Cerutti and Aprilia are in the lead once again. It's still not a huge gap between him and Botturi, but it's getting a little bit bigger at just over seven minutes.
Here are the overall rider standings after Stage Nine.
| Racer | Team | Time |
| Jacopo Cerutti | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 35:42:01 |
| Alessandro Botturi | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 35:49:05 |
| Pol Tarrés | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 36:06:28 |
| Giovanni Gritti | RSMoto Racing Team Honda Oil | 39:27:45 |
| Alexandre Vaudan | Casteu Trophy | 39:58:02 |
| Marco Aurelio Fontana | Honda Genuine Oil | 41:07:32 |
| Attilio Fert | France Road Book | 41:10:55 |
| Marco Menichini | Solarys Racing | 41:20:42 |
| Francesco Montanari | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 42:21:06 |
| Nicolas Charlier | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 43:15:11 |
With only three stages remaining in the 12-stage route that is the 2024 Africa Eco Race, there's still plenty that can happen.
