Dakar 2003. Stage 3: Castellón-Valencia

Marc Coma, third at the Castellón special
The race arrives in Valencia, where they will be boarding for Africa
 The Dakar 2003 has finally covered its European route with the staging of the last special at the Castellón beach, before boarding for Africa. Marc Coma, rider of the Telefónica Movistar Repsol team has been one of the most outstanding men of the day finishing third fastest in a trial claimed by the Frenchman Cyril Despres. Splendid weather joined the race in Castellón. Thousands of spectators went to the beach to watch the riders in this short special of eight kilometres length that resulted in a more complicated task than expected. Due to the starting order, the track was already in bad conditions showing deep ruts when the fastest riders took the start. This circumstance caused several crashes but without consequences. Roma started calmly without forcing and looking for a rather back position that might favour him for the first Tunisian stage. He managed to do so and set out on the liaison leading to Valencia. Marc Coma set a faster pace and could have won but he preferred to be cautious in some of the areas with high spectator attendance. Esteve left the track in a corner in order to avoid a crash due to the bad condition of the track and got stuck in the sand. The time lost might however favour him for Africa. In the overall standings, Sainct is still leading the race, Coma is 4th, 57 seconds behind, Roma 5th at 1.17 and Esteve 18th at 3.54. After their arrival at the Valencia port, the Town Council will present the participants with a typical paella. Early in the afternoon the motorbikes, cars and trucks will board the ships that will take them to Tunisia. The departure is planned to take place before midnight to arrive on January 5th early in the morning and carry out a short special of 25 kilometres between Tunis and Tozeur. Joan Roma: The track was complicated after the passing of many motorbikes and I didnt want to take risks in order to get a good position for the first African special. Everything went fine, with no frights at all. Now well start the real racing. The atmosphere in Castellón was just wonderful. Isidre Esteve: The goal was to finish the special without bigger problems. In a banking, in order to avoid a crash, I went straight and the bike got stuck in the sand. I lost some seconds but without any serious problem. Marc Coma: I had a good time on this track which fitted my bike very good. I could have won the special but I preferred to be cautious in a couple of jumps with a lot of spectator attendance. Im happy and really looking forward to the race in Africa.