Baja España-Aragon 2008. First Stage
 VICTORY
FOR MARC COMA ON THE FIRST STAGE OF THE ESPAÑA - ARAGÓN
2008
“Nani” Roma is second in cars; Alphand, fourth
and Masuoka, fifth. Gerard Farrés finishes third in
motorbikes, and Jordi Viladoms, eighth
The Repsol KTM rider Coma won two of today`s three special
stages, and has become the race leader with a gap of one minute
and fifteen seconds over Cyril Despres, and three minutes
over Gérard Farrés. Viladoms, affected by yesterday`s
result, was eighth. In the car category Joan “Nani”
Roma finished second, ceding more than four minutes with respect
to Nasser Al-Attiyah, due to two punctures.
Luc Alphand did not have any better luck and hit a stone that
was in the middle of the track, breaking two wheels which
took him some time to repair. Hiroshi Masuoka finished second
on the last special of the day, but another two punctures
on the special in the morning made him lose time in the classification.
Today`s stage, which in the end had three special sections
as one of them was divided into two, was thought to be the
slowest of the three day Baja España Aragón
2008 raid. Nevertheless, by using his superior technique on
the slow zones and taking advantage of his better motorcycle
on the fast zones, Marc Coma was able to move to the front
of the overall classification and get a victory on a stage
which means that tomorrow he will open tracks that are well-known
to him, close to the city of Zaragoza. Gérard Farrés,
who won yesterday`s prologue, continued to demonstrate that
he is in good form by finishing in a notable third position.
Viladoms had worse luck, because after finishing eleventh
yesterday and the application of a change in regulations for
this edition, started behind the first ten motorcycles and
the first ten quads. He was able to overtake five of them,
and another two motorbikes, but the peculiarities of this
raid, fast and with a lot of dust, makes overtaking time consuming
and risky, and so he had lost around 15 minutes and half by
the end of the day.
In cars, “Nani” Roma was able to do little seeing
that Nasser Al-Attiyah drove at a very high level, he dominated
the three special sections today. Roma was able to get close
to his rival on the slowest zones but as soon as the track
was faster the more powerful of the diesel vehicles made it
impossible for him to stay close to the driver from Qatar.
In addition, forced to take risks trying to make up lost time
he had two punctures and this made him lose even more time.
Luckily, the second was not totally flat and he was able to
reach the end of the special without having to change the
wheel.
For Luc Alphand, a little better after his stomach problems
yesterday, the day was conditioned by one of the many rocks
that are to be found on the dusty tracks in Aragon. The Repsol
driver broke two of the wheels on his Mitsubishi Montero Evolution
MPR13, and he lost a few minutes repairing them. Masuoka was
also delayed by two punctures, although he took advantage
of the greater power on his MPR14`s diesel engine, and was
able to recover a little of the lost ground on the final special
of the day.
Tomorrow sees the second stage with three new special sections,
one of them just one kilometre long, this is at the Zaragoza
Exhibition Centre, and is dedicated to the deceased driver
Colin McRae.
Quotes
Cars
"Nani" Roma >> 4h 04min 26secs.
“This was a difficult stage, since it was really hard
trying to keep up with the pace set by Nasser Al-Attiyah.
He is a very fast driver and so is his car. But we are driving
as fast as we can and trying to put pressure on him. What
happens when you go flat out is that you can make mistakes,
and in this case, I had a puncture.
We will have to continue putting pressure on him so that he
makes mistakes, since this race is not over yet. The race
is long, and we will try to continue doing what we have been
doing. The special started well and on the technical zone
we went into the lead because we have a car that goes well
on the technical zones. But when the fast zones began Nasser
Al-Attiyah started to get away from us, and in the end I had
the puncture. I was lucky because I was able to reach the
end of the special, but on the second it was not so and I
had to change the wheel. There are rocks hidden in the grass,
I touched one and I got a puncture. Luckily we made the change
very quickly.”
Luc Alphand >> 4h 10min 57 secs.
“Today was a difficult day, because in the morning I
was already tired, and still a little ill. I tried to keep
up a fast pace, and in that aspect both the first special
as well as the second did not go too badly. [Roma lost a little
time with respect to “Nani”] and Naser [Al-Attiyah],
but not too much.
Ten kilometres from the end I hit a stone in the middle of
the track and broke two wheels. Broken, not just punctured,
so we had to change them and as they were broken in two it
was more difficult to change them, and we lost a lot of time.
That ruined the day a little, it was not being an especially
good one either. But races are like this, but what is more
it is not over yet.”
Hiroshi Masuoka >> 4h 16min 19secs.
“On the first special there were many rocks on the track
and it was complicated. I had two punctures this morning and
I lost a lot of time there. The second special went better
and I did not have any problems so I was able to drive calmly
and enjoy things better.
But we continued to have some engine problems since we did
not ernough time to get a good look at the car yesterday and
so we could not find the problem. Today we hoped to be able
to solve it and so be OK for tomorrow, and so be able to take
advantage of all the engine power. It is fifteen years since
I raced the Baja and it is a nice race. Little by little I
am going better, and we will see if I can move up to a better
position.”
Motorcycling
Marc Coma >> 4h 00min 45secs.
“I ended the day very pleased since the specials around
Teruel were quite technical and required a lot of work to
get the best out of the bike, we got through them quite well.
We found a lot of stones and mountainous zones.
I am pleased since we did not expect this result. Our bike
goes better in the fast zones and today`s stage was very slow;
perhaps it is the slowest part of the race. We were able to
make up a little time. Tomorrow the race will be in the zone
we ahve covered other times, around Belchite and Alcañiz,
and we will see if we can keep our position. Starting in the
lead we hope that we will not find anything strange.”
Jordi Viladoms >> 4h 16min 11secs.
“Yesterday we lost a chance to start from the front
and to fight to win the race, because the latest modifications
to the regulations affected me quite badly.
The first ten quads started right behind the first ten bikes
and the cut was just in front of me, and so I started in the
morning knowing that I no longer had any chance of fighting
to win the race, without being able to do anything about it.
Now my objective has changed, now I have to try and set a
good pace on the stages and to try to go as fast as I can.
We will see if I can finish among the leaders and to do good
stages, because today, at kilometre thirty I had already caught
the first quad, which had started five minutes in front of
me, and it took me fifteen kilometres before I was able to
overtake it. This is what it was like the whole day. I overtook
five quads and two bikes and it was very complicated. In the
zones where I was alone I went well, being able to set a good
pace, and I am pleased for that reason.”
Gerard Farrés >> 4h 04min 08secs.
“I am pleased because today I gave it everything I was
able to, and I rode well. Perhaps the problem is that after
the first special was split into two I had to open the tracks
on three specials instead of on two. In addition, both Marc
Coma as well as Cyril went very fast and they have been catching
me up constantly.
But I am pleased since they are two great drivers and to be
behind them I think is OK, even though the gap is big. The
first special, that was converted into two, was on tracks
quite different from the traditional ones we use around Zaragoza,
with long straights. They were on footpaths, with trees, a
bit twisty and not very fast. The second was also complicated,
because after the cars had passed through first we found stones
hidden in the dust. I had to go very carefully.”
Results
>> Cars
1. AL ATTIYAH - THÖRNER (BMW) 3:59:40
2. ROMA - CRUZ SENRA (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) + 4:46
3. CAMPOS - BAPTISTA (BMW) + 10:15
4. ALPHAND - PICARD (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) + 11:17
5. MASUOKA - MAIMON (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) + 17:19
>> Motorcycling
1. Marc COMA (REPSOL KTM) 4:00:45
2. Cyril DESPRES (KTM) + 1:58
3. Gerard FARRÉS (REPSOL KTM) + 3:23
4. José M. PELLICER (YAMAHA) + 4:00
5. Marc GUASCH (KTM) + 7:58
8. Jordi VILADOMS (REPSOL KTM) + 15:26
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