Former MXGP star, Gautier Paulin not only managed to take the new Yamaha Ténéré 700 Rally to third overall, he won the new‘ over 450cc’ class. To add to his achievement, it was his debut in the rally scene, only having a couple of weeks to learn the art of navigation on the fly and adjust his pace to the terrain, distances and size of the bike. That sensational debut has fired the Frenchman up and, as predicted, his natural speed meant if he got the route navigation right, he was going to be a force to be reckoned with. Needless to say, we haven’ t seen the last of Paulin on the new Ténéré 700 Rally. Amazingly, Paulin was matching the lighter, more nimble 450cc machines. For Yamaha, locking out the top five places in the event is reassurance that the effort put into the 685cc parallel Twin CP3 powered rally special was both hugely successful and well worth the effort and development time spent. For those old enough to remember larger rally machines, it is a look into the past and the future at the same time, and for many, seeing a bike that is capable on the road doing battle offroad is likely to add a spark to the midsized adventure market …