Coma clinches third Dakar title

From KTM Racing & BMW Motorrad

KTM factory rider Marc Coma rode into Buenos Aires in triumph on Saturday as the 2011 winner of the mighty Dakar Rally, the toughest of its kind in modern motorsports. It was the Spanish rider's third Dakar title and the 10th consecutive prize for KTM, and a triumphant debut for the newly developed KTM 450 Rally bike ridden by all four of KTM's factory riders.     
       
Fellow KTM factory rider Cyril Despres, the title holder going into the Dakar, fought the good fight right up until the finish and was second overall. He trailed Coma by just over 15 minutes after 9600km of competitive riding over the most challenging terrain possible. Considering that Despres incurred a 10-minute penalty in the early part of the race, he and Coma rode on equal terms throughout the 13 stages and frequently finished only minutes apart. Indeed in the penultimate stage there was only 37 second separating the two riders at the end of the day. Between them Coma and Despres took victory in eight of the 13 stages - Coma won five stages and Despres won three.

Coma was a worthy overall winner of the 33rd edition of the race that took competitors in a huge sweep through Argentina, across the Andes at 4500m altitude into northern Chile and up to the border with Peru, over a number of stages in the notoriously dry Atacama Desert, back across the Andes and through Argentina to the finish in the capital. It was his job on Saturday to open the road on what was a comparatively short stage and all he had to do was to keep Despres under control till they got to Buenos Aires.

Dutchman Frans Verhoeven won the final Stage on his BMW G 450 RR. Verhoeven passed three riders during the super-fast stage to finish ahead of Portuguese rider Helder Rodrigues on a Yamaha.

Verhoeven moved up in the standings and finished 15th overall. A lot more could have happened if the team hadn´t been so badly hurt by crashes and a particular incident when a stone damaged Verhoeven´s engine case.

"I entered the day determined to post a top result for the team," Verhoeven said. "The bike worked awesome today and made this win possible."

Coma first took control of the overall standings after Stage 4 and remained in front for the remainder of the rally. He conceded 1:30 to Despres in the final stage but the title was well and truly wrapped up.

"Staying focused was essential so I did focus on my riding," Coma explained. "It was the only way to win. What was really tough was that I could not let my guard down, not even for a second. When a tough stage was ending, the next one was even tougher. We all know that a Dakar is a difficult race but this year it was particularly difficult.

"This victory is the reward of all the hard work, the reward of many years and a lot of tensions over the last few days. It is the bonus you get for steering right and for so many sacrifices over the years."  

At the end of Stage 13 Despres said he was sad he had not done better.

"I made some mistakes, they were two small mistakes but they held some heavy consequences," he said. "This special is different if you are in first place as it was the case last year... then you want the race to be shorter. When you are second, you would want the race to be longer. But anyway, the feeling of finishing a Dakar is always nice especially here with all the people welcoming you. I am sad I could not do better. I have raced 11 Dakar, won three and been on the podium eight times. One more would have been great. But I just could not make any better."

Stage 13 Results
1. Frans Verhoeven, Belgium, BMW
2. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha at 00:05
3. Jean De Azevedo, Brazil, KTM, 26:04 at 00:05
4. Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 00:44
5. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 2:16
6. Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM, 2:47
7. Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 3:05
8. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM 3:51
9. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM, 4:38
10. Miran Stanovnik, Slovenia, KTM, 5:16

Final Overall Results
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 15:04
3. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 1:40:20
4. Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia,
5. Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 3:07:03
6. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 3:32:56
7. Jean De Azevedo, Brazil, KTM, 3:59:38
8. Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 4:13:01
9. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM at 9:38:41
10. Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM 6:14:46