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Coma2012

Marc Coma

Date of birth: 07/10/1976
Birthplace: Avià – Catalunya – Espanya
Nationality: Spanish

Coma2012
   

 

Sporting career

 

 

1995

Spanish over 175 cc Junior Enduro CHAMPION
Spanish over 175 cc Junior Enduro CHAMPION by makes

1996

Silver medal Enduro World Championship by Nations

1997

4th European over 175cc Senior Enduro Championship

1998

Enduro under 23 WORLD CHAMPION
Enduro WORLD CHAMPION by Nations
Runner-up Spanish 125cc Senior Enduro Championship

1999

12th Enduro 250cc Senior World Championship
2nd overall Memorial Toni Soler

2000

10th 600cc Senior Enduro World Championship
2nd Enduro Indoor Barcelona
3rd Enduro World Championship by Nations
3rd Spanish 600cc Senior Enduro Championship
Winner 600cc Senior Enduro de las Autonomías

2001

3rd World Championship by Nations
9th Enduro World Championship
Runner-up Spanish 600cc Senior Enduro Championship

2002

1st overall Memorial Toni Soler
2nd Baja España Aragón
Debut in the Rally Arras-Madrid-Dakar (best class. 6th)
Runner-up Spanish 600cc Senior Enduro Championship (6th Scratch)

2003

11th overall Dakar 2003
Participation in the Rally of Egypt

2004

1st Baja España Aragon
2nd Morocco Rally
2nd Rally Tunisia
6th Rally Sardinia
7th Raid World Cup
Participation in the Dakar 2004. Retired

2005

1st Rally de las Pampas, Argentina
1st Rally des Pharaons, Egypt
1st Rally Sardinia
2nd Orpi Rally Morocco
2nd UAE Desert Challenge, Dubai
Cross Country Rally World Champion
Runner-up Rally Barcelona-Dakar

2006

Cross Country Rally World Champion
Winner of the Lisbon Dakar Rally

2007

1st Optic 2000 Tunisia Rally
Participation in Dakar 2007. Retired
1st Rally de Tunisia Optic 2000
1st Rally de Sardinia
1st Rally Patagonia Atacama, Argentina – Chile
1st Rally des Pharaons, Egypt
1st UAE Desert Challenge, Dubai
Cross Country Rally World Champion

2008

Central Europe Rally (Retired)
4th Rally Dos Sertoes
1st Baja España Aragón
3rd PAX Rally
17th UAE Desert Challenge (breakdown on the penultimate stage when he was leading)

2009

Winner of the Dakar Rally
1st Rally Abu Dhabi
2nd Rally Tunisia
1st Rally Moroco

2010

15th Rally Dakar (4 stage victories)
1st Rally Abu Dhabi
2nd Rally Tunisia
1st Rally Sardinia
1st Rally Dos Sertoes
1st Pharaoh’s Rally
Cross Country Rally World Champion

2011

1st Rally Dakar
1st Rally Abu Dhabi
1st Rally Sardinia

2012

2nd Rally Dakar
1st Rally Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
1st Sealine Cross-Country Rally
3rd Rally Sardinia
Cross Country Rally World Champion

Biography

1995-2005

Seven years ago, an intruder sneaked into the Dakar elite. He was a beginner. An unknown name for the “Africans”, although the Spanish Enduro scene already knew about Marc Coma’s talent. On an experimental motorbike called the CSV and with the aid of Carlos Sotelo, Coma finished the muddy European prologue stages in sixth place. In Africa he managed to finish among the top twenty, and on the day he had to retire he was setting the tenth fastest time of the stage.

The following year, in 2003, and part of the official KTM structure, with Nani Roma and Isidre Esteve as team-mates and with the support of Repsol YPF, Coma got his first chance to race a Dakar with a good bike and he didn’t waste the opportunity. Riding his single-cylinder in the middle of a pack full of fast and powerful twin-cylinder bikes, Coma more than achieved his objective by finishing the Dakar in 11th position with four third places in different stages.

Marc Coma, motorbike rider from his earliest years, had a racing background at home. His father, Ricard, managed to finish fifth in the Spanish Senior Motocross Championship. There was always a motorbike at home. Both his father and his uncle were big fans and this tradition was passed on to little Marc. The first bike he rode was a Montesa Cota 348 under the guidance of his uncle at the age of 8. While he was still learning, Marc used every moment that his uncle did not have an eye on him to get on the Cota and disappear onto the mountain tracks around his home.

After his uncle’s trial bike he got his own, a Puch Cobra 74 with which he had his first “races” with his friends in his hometown. Then, as long as he got good grades at school, he got a motocross Honda CR 125 and he began to take part in his first real races. These first races were followed by county championships, regional championships and finally the national championship. He dedicated himself to this speciality up to the age of 18 but Marc didn’t see his future on the circuits, so before giving up and looking for a normal job he thought he would try his luck in Enduro. Marc had already made up his mind that he wanted to try and become a professional rider.

From that moment on, Marc focused on Enduro and his first victories and success arrived quickly. In 1995, Coma became Spanish Junior Champion in the Over 175cc class on a 250cc KTM. After that Marc joined the National Enduro Team and got a silver medal at the following year’s World Enduro Championship. That result was followed by several other brilliant results in the following years, such as 4th place in the European Senior Enduro Championship, the under 23 Enduro World Championship, the Enduro World Championship for Nations and 3rd place in the Enduro World Championship for Nations.

But the Dakar had already caught his eye and in 2002 Carlos Sotelo, a former Dakar rider, offered Marc the chance to ride a bike that had been built by Sotelo himself, the CSV – with a Suzuki single-cylinder engine in the Arras-Madrid-Dakar. As long as the bike and the mechanical parts lasted Marc had an incredible experience and even managed to clinch a sixth place on one of the initial stages. He couldn’t finish the race, but the Dakar had him hooked. That same season he tried his luck at the Baja Aragon and in his first participation he finished second.

In 2003 Marc went back to the Dakar, this time on a KTM with Nani Roma and Isidre Esteve. Despite competing on a single cylinder and breaking his wrist on one of the final days of the rally, Coma reached Dakar in eleventh place. An excellent result considering his limited experience in this race. As a reward for his performance, Marc Coma got the chance to go back to the Dakar in 2004 with the same team. He was the perfect foil for Joan Roma and Isidre Esteve, but five stages before the end of the race he had a bad fall and his bike hit him on his head. Coma lost consciousness for a short time but fortunately the initial worries gave way to relief after the medical check revealed that there were no serious injuries but a strong blow to his head and to his right wrist. Relief gave way to helplessness, because it meant the end of his participation in the African rally.

With the firm objective of continuing with his learning process, Marc Coma had a brilliant start to the 2004 season in the World Cup. Marc finished second overall in the first round staged in Tunisia, with three stage victories in his account. He was second again in Morocco and together with his team-mate Isidre Esteve took a historical one-two finish for the Repsol KTM Team, stepping onto the two highest steps of the podium. Coma took part in the Sardinia Rally, finishing in a deserved 6th place, preparing his participation in the Baja Aragon. That preparation together with the excellent shape of the young rider turned out to be essential, because he managed to carry off the victory in this prestigious race for the first time in his career. But not everything would be good news. He was on his way to finishing second in the Rally Egypt but the sudden death of Richard Sainct made all the KTM riders decide to retire from the race in tribute. The last race of the Championship didn’t benefit Marc either because, despite winning two of the four stages the transmission shaft broke, preventing him from fighting for the victory in the UAE. Marc was finally seventh overall in the World Cup.

In constant progression, Marc Coma proved to be fast and reliable throughout the 2004 season, two essential requirements needed to fight for the Dakar 2005. And Marc started with a single clear idea in his mind: to make up for the previous year. However, this target only made him obsessed and he never managed to ride calmly, gauging the risks he was taking. He led the race on several occasions and although he would have agreed to the result before the start right away, in the end, second place was not good enough for him. It did not reflect everything he had done in the race, all he could have achieved and all he had suffered. Coma had put in a superb performance and could have won the race. He was capable of it and very self-assured, no crashes, taking good care of the bike and following the plan step by step. Unfortunately he came across small setbacks, such as running out of fuel 3km before a refuelling. He was able to continue thanks to his team-mate Gio Sala, but lost some valuable time. The cancellation of legs that could have been favourable to him and especially the death of “El Carni” and Meoni affected him, although he was always among the leaders.

In his fourth participation in the Dakar, this natural and extroverted enduro rider made a dream of his come true, although there were several other targets to be achieved. Already confirmed as one of the best riders worldwide, Marc Coma faced the 2005 Cross Country Rally World Championship in high spirits and was also looking forward to other national and international races. Mechanical problems prevented him from finishing the “Nevada McMillin 1000” and the Baja España Aragon, but he ended up taking the victory in the prestigious Rally Sardinia. He participated in four of the seven dates in the World Championship. He won two, the Rally de las Pampas in Argentina and Rally Pharaohs in Egypt; he finished second in the ORPI Rally Morocco and had to retire from the Rally Dos Sertoes in Brazil while having a clear lead in the race. He reached the last round in Dubai at the top of the leaderboard and just when it seemed that Lady Luck was turning her back on him – battery problems returned after similar problems in Egypt – he finally managed to finish second in the UAE Desert Challenge and to clinch his first world title. A fair and deserved reward for his efforts and sacrifice.

2006-2012

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