Current World Champion of the speciality gets closer to the overall leadership.
The sixth and last leg of the Sardinia Raid for the first time scoring round of the Raid World Championship finished today in Santa Teresa Gallera. Marc Coma, winner of last year’s edition, was proclaimed winner again and thanks to this result he’s able to shorten the distance o the leader of the overall standings, Frenchman David Casteau, who finished third.
In addition to Marc Coma, Repsol riders Jordi Durán and Jordi Viladoms, were also racing in Sardinia, the latter focussed on the evolution of the KTM prototype which is being prepared to face the 2007 Dakar. Jordi Durán, injured during a test in November 2005, while preparing for the Dakar, has restarted competition this week in Sardinia and is physically recovered of the injured as proven by his final eleventh position.
The event in Sardinia experienced an intense and exciting fight for the victory between Repsol rider Marc Coma, David Casteau and local rider and former Dakar rider Matteo Graziano, who went for the victory in all of the legs without giving any chance to his rivals. But finally it was Marc Coma who won again the Sardinia race, a result that strengthens his second place in the overall standings and shortens the distance to leader Casteu. In order to take part in this so special race – due to its special technical features – Coma preferred to start with an enduro KTM, much handier than the big bike he uses for the Dakar and the remaining races of the Raid World Championship. The next race in which Repsol riders Marc Coma and Jordi Viladoms are going to take part will be the Morocco Raid from 30 May to 5 June.
Rider´s comments
Marc Coma:
‘I’m very happy for the victory, because it’s been he first time this raid has been a scoring round of the World Championship and that has made it really contended and longer than usual. It’s been a complicated race, with a lot of navigation, constant changes of direction and countless tracks. Both the team and the bike have been at top level and therefore I want to say thank you to all of them. The day we had to open the track was a bit complicated but we knew how to stay calm and in the end we got the reward. We used an enduro bike here, adapted to raids because there is no desert here and most of the times we’re on narrow tracks, so it’s much better to have a handier bike, with the navigation elements adapted, than the one we use at the Dakar.’
Jordi Durán:
‘I’m happy to be back into activity and to racing, which is what I like most. I feel physically all right, although it’s obviously been difficult to get back the rhythm. But this raid is ideal to recover because it is not very fast although it needs a lot of concentration on navigation. I’ve felt well on the bike and bit by bit I’ve recovered confidence, which right now is what I need. It’s been a good comeback for me and my team.’
Jordi Viladoms:
‘The whole team is very satisfied with this result and with the behaviour of the prototype, because we haven’t had any problem with the bike although it’s still in evolution. Moreover, there’s a lot of time left for the Dakar so we still have time ahead to continue testing. We’ve done a great job and I think that the result is good with a bike which is actually not adequate for these kinds of technical and twisty raids. I want to congratulate Repsol and KTM work the work done here during this intense week.’
Standings
Sardinia Raid
1. Marc Coma (KTM) 7.11’38’472.
2. Matteo Graziani (KTM) + 3’15’84
3. David Casteu (KTM) + 4’13’30
4. Paolo Ceci (Aprilia) + 6’30’72
5. Mauro Sant (KTM) + 17’36’52
6. Isidre Esteve (KTM) + 17’39’73
7. Andrea Mancini (Husqvarna) + 19’10’98
8. Pål Ullevålseter (KTM) + 19’51’38
11. Jordi Durán (KTM) + 34’22’10
13. Jordi Viladoms (KTM) + 42’05’27
Raid World Championship
1. David Casteau, 64
2. Marc Coma, 50
3. Isidre Esteve, 40
4. Pal Ullevalseter, 33
5. Matteo Graziani, 22
6. Jordi Viladoms, 21
7. Orly Terranova, 20
8. Cyril Portal, 18
9. Alexander Schurch, 18
16. Jordi Durán, 10
