Today, the latest Dos Sertoes Rally competition in Goiania, Brazil began with Marc Coma as one of the principal riders in the competition. After the preliminary stage contested yesterday, in which the Repsol rider was fifteenth, following a strategy planned with the team, Coma finished third in the first stage of almost 205 kilometres – 133 of them against the clock – with a time of 1 hour, 41 minutes and 48 seconds.
The Repsol rider, who went out late because of the strategy put into practice yesterday to make up time in the event’s first special stage, finished the special stage of 133 kilometres which spanned the Goiania and Caldas Novas areas, in third position. Coma was not able to exploit the bike’s full potential due to going out late, because the dust thrown up by the quads preceding him, did not allow him to ride as fast as he would have liked.
At the controls of the KTM 690 Rally, the Repsol rider faces almost 4,500 kilometres over the next ten days – of which 2,500 will be against the clock – which will reach its most difficult point on Monday and Tuesday, with two special stages of 423 and 500 kilometres respectively. The classic Brazilian event, the fourth meeting of the current Raids World Championships – following the races of Abu Dhabi, Tunisia and Sardinia – will finish on Friday of next week in Fortaleza, in the region of Ceará in the north of the country.
Marc Coma
“It’s been a more difficult day than we expected, as the thick dust thrown up by the quads didn’t make things easy. Anyway, having started from fifteenth place, after the preliminary stage of yesterday, I’m quite pleased. The rally will be very hard and difficult and navigation will be very important, so we have to be careful and consistent at the same time. We have a good pace but we have to stay focussed to be able to tackle the marathon stage with confidence which, for me, is the most important thing.”
