Marc Coma stage 5 report

A mechanical problem steals 35 minutes to Marc Coma

The incredible comeback that the pilot AMV Marc Coma (KTM) held today has not helped. His meteoric pace, which led him to make a difference of six minutes over the overall leader Cyril Despres (KTM), was frozen. When we were only a few kilometers to finish especially its great performance has been sharply cut short by a mechanical problem, the result of driving the beast who subjected his mount along the whole stage. The "mousse" of the wheel of champion of the world's toughest race, failed with the infernal pace carried out by the pilot AMV, and the fateful km 376 of the special connecting the towns of Copiapo and Antofagasta, we forced to jettison the entire class master pilot that the pilot had ever done before. Luca Manca, offered his wheel to the current winner of the race, on a wonderful gesture, and after losing another 39'35 minutes, Coma who yesterday won his eighth victory in a stage of the Dakar, had to settle for the nineteenth position.

His teammate Henk Kniuman sacrificed his own wheel to rescue an Italian driver, who had previously ensured the integrity of his team mate Marc Coma. At 17:00 pm, Chilean time, the Dutchman had not yet reached the town of Antofagasta and that after his gesture, he had to wait for service truck to continue his path toward the goal later.

Today's, much like the third, was a stage of navigation while driving required large doses as fast tracks, which were developed by the course, harbored different types of sand with very stony parts.

Marc Coma, now occupies the seventh position overall with a time of 17 hours 55 minutes and 21 seconds, a difference of 1 hour 16 minutes and 55 seconds over the first seed, Frenchman Cyril Despres (KTM). His closest rivals are the Chilean "Chaleco Lopez (Aprilia) and Portuguese Rodrigues (YAMAHA)

-source: marc coma