World WRC Championship. Dos Sertoes Rally. 2nd stage
 MARC
COMA, THIRD IN THE SECOND STAGE OF THE RALLY DOS SERTOES
The Repsol rider had no problems with his tyres today and
managed to improve his performance. Teammate Jordi Viladoms
finished in seventh position
Today the second stage of the Rally Dos Sertoes took place,
222Km of time racing between the town of Río Verde
and Aruanã. Brazilian rider José Hélio
took the victory with an advantage of 40 seconds over Cyril
Després, leader of the general classification, and
1 minute 45 secs ahead of Marc Coma, who was third. The Repsol
rider finished the race satisfied with the fact that there
were none of the problems he had yesterday with his tyres,
which prevented him from completing a good stage.
Teammate Jordi Viladoms was seventh today, once again carrying
out some very important teamwork. The Repsol rider fitted
his KTM with tyres using a traditional inner tube, in case
the tyres of team leader Marc Coma had the same problem as
yesterday, so they could have a spare tyre in good condition.
The problem with tyres that use a traditional inner tube is
that they need much more pressure and the risk of a puncture
is greater, meaning Viladoms had to maintain a careful pace.
In addition to the problems he had yesterday, he was encumbered
by the dust kicked up by the rivals who had started before,
and was unable to pass them until near the end of the stage.
It was quite a slower and more technical special than yesterday's,
more similar to an enduro race due to the ease of navigation.
This type of stage is not very favourable for such large bikes,
designed specifically for the desert, and which under these
conditions require a much greater physical effort. Tomorrow
the third stage, of 260Km, will be disoputed between Aruanã
and Niquelandia, right before the first of the two marathon
races included in this rally.
Quotes
Marc Coma >> 3rd at 1 minute 45 secs
“Today went better, and we were able to pick up our
pace again because the tyres performed perfectly. In any case,
I didn't ride too fast, as it's only the second stage and
there are two quite tough marathons ahead of us.
Now it's important not to lose any time and not to take any
risks, because we have nothing to lose. I'm pleased; everything's
going well for now, both the bike, which is performing correctly,
and the tyres, which didn't give us any problems. And I feel
very happy myself to be competing again”.
Jordi Viladoms >> 7th at 7 minutes and 1 secs
“Today we kind of paid for yesterday's bad result, because
I started off quite far back and had to put up with a lot
of dust, with the added difficulty when I wanted to overtake.
I started off very far behind and wasn't able to pass Rubén
Farias almost until the end of the stage. What's more, I had
to ride quite carefully, because we fitted a tyre with an
inner tube instead of the usual “mousse”, in order
to have a tyre in condition in case, like yesterday, Marc
Coma's tyre desintegrated again. But luckily the “mousse”
tyres performed properly again; let's see if we can concentrate
exclusively on the race tomorrow.”
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