The Repsol rider, who will participate in the Spanish event at the wheel of a standard Mitsubishi Montero, has had this week in Italy his first contact with the car
The first contact of Marc Coma with the car he is going to use to participate next week in the Baja España Madrid Aragon took place last Tuesday in Maggiore, a town located 40 km from the Italian city of Milan, where the team with which Marc will be racing, RCS Motor sport, has its headquarters. This team has a large experience in the Baja including several victories in the international event -, in addition to having participated in several Spanish Rally Championships with well-known Spanish drivers on a national level such as Pedro Diego and Chus Puras.
Coma covered some 100 kilometres in his first contact with a slightly changed standard Mitsubishi Montero, with which he will be taking part in the T1 class. A series of modifications have been made to the chassis and the suspensions of the standard car with a diesel engine in order to adapt it to the demands of competition. The engine is a 3.2 Diesel, offering a power of almost 200 HP. During the tests Marc Coma made with the Mitsubishi Montero, the Repsol rider focussed initially on covering kilometres on a closed gravel track in order to understand the cars behaviour. Coma asked for some changes in the suspension settings too soft at the beginning to be able to improve in the corners and reduce the inertia of a car weighing almost 2,025 Kg. The most complicated part for Marc was initially to get used to his new position inside the car, completely fastened by safety harnesses and without being able to move. Used to the freedom of riding a motorbike, the limitations of movement inside the car made it necessary for the Repsol rider to adapt first. After some laps getting used to those details, Marcs evolution was positive and at the end of the test he managed to drive more comfortable.
Marc Coma: Its all so different& Two different worlds, because the freedom you have on a bike is over in the car as soon as you get inside the cockpit and fasten yourself with the harnesses. At the beginning I just covered many laps on the gravel track on which we went to test, to get progressively used to all those new sensations. Then we set the suspensions to make me feel more comfortable because they were too soft for me and I had trouble getting into the corners. We made the settings harder and then I started to feel more confident, driving more comfortable lap after lap. The truth is that Im looking forward to race my first rally in a car; I think that it will be an interesting experience, but its just that, an amusing experience. Im obviously very grateful to Repsol and Mitsubishi for giving me this chance. This is with no doubt a big opportunity for me to have a new experience, but I insist, its only a contact that will satisfy my curiosity, thats all. My world is motorbike racing and its there where my head is. Well see what happens in the future, but my present is on two wheels.
