Dos Sertoes Rally. 6th stage
COMPLICATED DAY FOR MARC COMA IN THE RALLY DOS SERTOES
Tyre problems at the start of the special made him lose almost
one hour yesterday. Viladoms rejoined the competition, fighting
back the whole day
The sixth stage of the Rally Dos Sertoes was considered crucial
in the final outcome of the race, and so it was; the Repsol
rider Marc Coma, the leader of the race Cyril Despres and
many others all had tyre problems. Yesterday`s special was
the longest in the rally, a timed 536km. the first part which
was very fast, was critical for the participants` “mousse”.
In Coma`s case, after 160km his rear tyre fell apart, and
with three-quarters of the stage ahead of him he decided to
mount a conventional tyre. To round the day off with 65km
left he had a puncture which made him slow down making him
lose even more time.
His teammate Jordi Viladoms, who had to retire from the rally
with engine problems, had a tough day yesterday. The Repsol
rider rejoined the race but as the tail-ender and this meant
that he was behind much slower riders. In the fast zone, with
all the dust lifted by the convoy, it was practically impossible
for him to recover any positions. He had to ride slowly until
he reached the more technical zones, where he had the additional
problem of the tiredness at the end of this tough stage, but
he was able to overtake over 20 rivals. At the end of the
day he was 5th, 25 minutes behind the winner and so he will
once again be able to start among the most competitive riders
in the rally and so continue to compete at the highest level.
The new leader of the rally is José Hélio.
Quotes
Marc Coma >>
“The start of the stage was very fast and the same problem
as on the first day was repeated. On such fast stages, the
“mousse” that we use does not last long and at
killometre 160 I had to stop and to put a tyre on, because
there were more than 380 timed killometres left.
Later, the special slowed down a lot, it became more technical
and difficult to move through the terrain. Compared to the
rest of the race perhaps today there was a little more navigation,
but nothing comparable to what we are used to. The tracks
were half sandy, medium-hard, but it was not a very pleasant
ride. Then, what is more, I had a puncture about 65km from
the finish, and I had to ride very slowly.”
Jordi Viladoms >>
“Today I have swallowed a lot of dust. They made me
start last and on the fast part at the beginning it was impossible
to overtake. I took 50km to overtake the first rider because
there was so much dust. The first 270km I did at an average
of 70km/h but then I arrived at the re-fuelling.
Later, the special became slower and sandier, with a little
wind, and there was not as much dust, so I was able to start
overtaking. The advantage that I had is that because I was
not able to ride fast at the beginning my tyres were not too
bad and I was able to go fast the rest of the stage. It was
dangerous, because dust clouds are lifted and these do not
let you see anything as you approach the rivals ahead of you,
and to overtake you must take risks in the slowest zones where
there is less dust.”
Results
>> Stage
1. Ruben Faria (Honda) 6h14’17
2. José Hélio (Honda) at 8’28
3. Ike Klaumann (Suzuki) at 19’19
4. Cyril Despres (KTM) at 21’33
5. Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) at 25’47
>> General
1. José Hélio (Honda) 22h30’41
2. Cyril Despres (KTM) at 7’07
3. David Casteu (KTM) at 25’53
4. Ruben Faria (Honda) at 47’41
5. Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) at 57’53
|
