After a first day that was a little chaotic owing to the changes made to the route of the liaison, the second day of the rally Saridinia brought better sensations for the riders in the Team Repsol KTM. Marc Coma became the race leader after winning today`s two specials, and Viladoms, 3rd on the first special and 5th on the second, has cut the gap in the overall and is now just 51 seconds off 3rd place.
The second stage on the Italian island was another quite long one, 361km, 131km of them against the clock, divided into two specials very similar to yesterday`s. The first was longer and also faster, on tracks that were a little wider and in parts the bikes were able reach 140 km/h. The second, like yesterday`s, was characterised by narrower and slower sections, and even had some off road along fire breaks in the forests. In both cases the navigation played a very important role, as there were many crossroads and instructions in the roadbook, which in this particular race even add another decimal so that it is even more accurate than usual.
Tomorrow sees the shortest specials in the rally, one of 55km and the other one of 51km.
Marc Coma
“After the mess they made of things yesterday, which could have cost us the race and which was not the best way to start, today went quite well. This is a very difficult race, where any mistake with the navigation can be very costly, and so winning the two specials and moving into the lead is a good result. The team worked very hard, Jordi [Viladoms] also rode well, and the truth is that this is the best thing that could have happened after yesterday`s farce. Whatever, there is more than half the race left, so we will just have to take things calmly.”
Jordi Viladoms
“Things went quite well, I was even 3rd on the first special, just 43 seconds behind Marc [Coma], and I made up some ground in the overall. It was similar to yesterday`s stage, regarding the length of the specials and the type of track we came across. The first was wider and faster, although there was a lot of navigation too, and the second, on twistier tracks. I am pleased becaue we were able to make up some time and set a good pace. It is a race with slow averages, but we are riding fast because they are very short stages, enduro type and the differences are very small.”
