Four races, four victories. The performance of Marc Coma in the World Raid Championship has been impeccable once agian, and he counts his participations in wins. The Repsol rider has dominated this speciality for the last three years, winning eleven of the thirteen dates, not winning in Morocco and Dubai 2005, but even then he finished second.
Below there is a review of Marc Coma´s performances in the World Raid Championship 2007. After dominating the most recent Dakar, but being forced to retire from the African race Coma had to recover from this tough blow to his morale in a very short time and get back to racing: the World Raid Championship 2007 started in Tunisia at the beginning of April.A difficult start to the year There was setback for the rider from Avià right at the start of 2007, he had to retire from the Rally Lisbon Dakar after a fall, just two days before it finished and after having dominated the race, he was almost 60 minutes ahead of his nearest rival.After recovering from this setback Coma concentrated on becoming the rider who had had an impeccable 2006 season, when he had won both the Dakar and the world title. In the first rally of the World Raid Championship 2007 in the first week of April in Tunisia, he left nobody in doubt. The Team Repsol KTM rider got the lead from the very first moment he was on the African continent, putting the pressure on at the key moments and protecting his lead without making any mistakes. The reigning World Champion was back on the top of the podium proving that he had left the bad memories in the Dakar behind him.He won half of the specials and ended the rally with a lead of more than 20 minutes over the rider classified second, the Frenchman David Casteu. But above all he showed that he was the same old Marc: strong, concentrated and with a grin from ear to ear after getting back to doing what he does best: winning.Just a month later the Repsol rider got an important victory in the Sardinian Rally. The race in Italy is very different from the classic races in African deserts that the Spanish rider is used to but even so Coma was able to win a hard fought rally that put him in a strong position at the top of the standings.Summer break After quite an intense start to the season, aiming to get the riders back in shape after the break taken when the Lisbon Dakar finishes, June, July and August had fewer races. Coma was seen in the prologue stage of the impressive Erzberg Rodeo, held at the beginning of July. He was also fighting for the victory with José Manuel Pellicer in the Baja España Madrid Aragón, which however was finally won by Gerard Farrés.After some short summer holidays he was back racing on 29th August in Argentina, for the start of the Rally Pampas. The fourth date in the World Raid Championship– Coma did not take part in the Rally Dos Sertoes, in Brazil – and he got another triumph, winning the tough date in South-America for the third consecutive year.Three times World Champion with the Repsol KTM Team With his latest victory in the Pharaohs Rally the Repsol rider entered the final stage of his preparation for the Dakar 2008 demonstrating that he is in tip-top form. Marc Coma won in the dunes of Egypt with authority, getting into the lead on the very first day and winning three stages. The Repsol rider was almost always accompanied by his teammate and friend Jordi Viladoms, and had his rivals under control at all times. Upon his return to Cairo Coma had a lead of almost 18 minutes over the rider classified in second place, Viladoms.The next objective is the Rally Dubai, at the end of this month and this is the final dress rehearsal before the trip to Lisbon where the race to Dakar starts, which year after year concentrates the minds and the dreams of any raid rider. A race that Marc Coma will go to with the best possible preparation and references, knowing that he has done his homework well, having prepared the races down to the smallest detail so as to get the best possible result: another World Championship.
