Ivan Cervantes wins the 2022 Baja Aragón Trail category on a A Tiger 900 Rally Pro
Triumph Motorcycles has been not-so-secretly working on a pair of dirtbikes in recent years, a motocross and an enduro, even as they’ve produced class-leading adventure motorcycles through the years. We had the chance to ride and review the Tiger 900 Rally back two years ago, and found it a fantastic all-around motorcycle. Now a Tiger 900 has won a prestigious off-road endurance race in Europe, in the capable hands of 5-time Enduro world champ Iván Cervantes, who also happens to be a part of the overall Triumph Enduro project. Here’s the report on Iván’s and Triumph’s big win.
From Triumph:
Taking a resounding win in the newly formed Trail category across more than 280 miles (450km) of the Aragón region’s most challenging terrain, Cervantes finished 1st with an overall time of 6 hrs, 13 min, and 32 sec, 1 hour and 6 minutes ahead of the 2nd place rider in the category.
Cervantes powering the Tiger 900 Rally Pro to victory. Photo by Triumph.
Perhaps even more impressive, in a race that counts as the 4th round of the 2022 FIM Bajas World Cup, Iván finished in 12th position overall, only 33 minutes and 50 seconds behind the 1st place rider, against a field of 75 others, including some of the most competitive riders in the international rally scene and their purpose-built, Dakar-specification racing motorcycles.
The rugged terrain of Spain’s Aragon region. Photo by Triumph.
New for 2022, the Trail and Maxi-Trail categories at the Baja Aragón were created to showcase the ever-increasing range of production adventure motorcycles, where the Triumph took the opportunity to highlight its advantages. Hand painted in a distinctive one-off ‘Baja Aragón’ racing livery, the Tiger 900 Rally Pro’s first place finish demonstrates its incredible off-road capability and reinforces its position as the leader in this sector.
Cervantes hard on the throttle at Baja Aragón. Photo by Triumph.
At the race conclusion, Cervantes declared, “We came to the Baja Aragón with a clear goal, which was to win the new Trail category on the Tiger 900 Rally Pro. However, our greater ambition was to finish as high as possible in the overall rankings, where people have been amazed at the pace we have taken with the Trail. We are proud to have done a great job, and I believe we have given everyone a lot to talk about. This once again proves that Triumph is here in off-road racing, and is here to stay. We chose this race because in the future we plan to come here with the Enduro project, and of course we plan to succeed! I am very happy to return to Baja Aragón after so many years and to return home as the category champion with Triumph.”
The winning bike and rider. Photo by Triumph.
Iván’s winning of the Baja Aragón follows his commanding performance on the Tiger 900 in the Maxi-Trail class at Bassella, where he dominated the field from start to finish and took the checkered flag 25 seconds ahead of his closest competition. Following that win, Cervantes quipped, “I am discovering a whole new world for me as a result of starting to collaborate with Triumph. After years riding in high-end Enduro competition, new challenges arise for me, and when I heard about the premiere of the new Trail category to participate in the Baja with Triumph I thought: Let’s go for it!”
We look forward to seeing the motocross and enduro bikes Triumph is still developing, and with the likes of Iván Cervantes and Ricky Carmichael involved in the projects, we’re sure they will be formidable machines.
Road Dirt Crew
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