Kimonas Karampelas completed the 2026 Addax Rally in Morocco on a Yamaha Ténéré, taking 10th place overall. For the Motodynamics Rally Team and its rider, the event in Merzouga was planned as a preparation step for the Africa Eco Race rather than an isolated race appearance.

Five stages in the Merzouga desert

The rally consisted of five stages and gave Karampelas his first substantial exposure to the demands of riding on sand and dunes, together with desert navigation. An incident affected his third stage, but he raised his performance in the fourth. That stage became his strongest of the event and brought him to 10th in the overall classification.

The entry was backed by the Motodynamics Rally Team, with Yamaha’s official factory racing outfit, the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team, also alongside him. The experience therefore covered more than the result: Karampelas built knowledge of navigation and learned to adapt to the particular conditions of desert rally raid competition.

Africa Eco Race is the next target

Karampelas is preparing to contest the Africa Eco Race on a Yamaha Ténéré GYTR, again operating under the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team structure. The Addax Rally consequently served as a practical training stage, giving the Greek rider experience of the desert environment before the different demands of the next rally-raid challenge.