A new edition of the Morocco Rally started up today with very positive results for the Repsol KTM team contenders. Jordi Viladoms prevailed in the competition’s first special stage and was followed by team member Marc Coma. The stage had two timed laps with a 139 kilometer special stage and even though Coma prevailed in the first lap, Jordi Viladoms was able to take advantage of the traffic on the track the second time around to attain victory by the end of the stage.
The race was nearly 300 kilometers long and the racers had two laps ahead of them on the same timed route on characteristically Moroccan terrain: rocky tracks in poor condition with lots of holes. Moreover, the dust made driving especially difficult, especially in the second lap in which the motorcycle racers started after the thirty minute time cancellation point when the last cars were just finishing their first lap and the first trucks were leaving the gates.
In the first lap, Marc Coma was the fastest with a time of 1:34:14, five minutes faster than his teammate, Jordi Viladoms, who was in fourth place. However, in the second lap, the Repsol racers were met with the unpleasant surprise of having to pass the cars and trucks that had started their first lap barely a few seconds beforehand.
Visibility was notably difficult because there was so much traffic and therefore the special stage’s level of danger was elevated. Jordi Viladoms was fastest under these conditions with a time of 1:41:35, 0:08:07 faster than his teammate Marc Coma. Putting together both laps’ time, Viladoms was the certain winner of the stage, 0:03:07 ahead of Coma in second place, almost four minutes ahead of third placed Olivier Pain and more than seven minutes in front of fourth qualifier Cyril Despres.
Tomorrow there will be a 557 km stage which begins with a 93 kilometer connection followed by a 170 km special stage and another 16 km connection until the time cancellation point. The special stage will be repeated as well as the 93 kilometers up to the tarmac.
Marc Coma
“Today’s stage went well and was a typical Morocco special stage with lots of rocks and holes. It also wasn’t very long and so that was the best way to find a rhythm. We passed many cars in the second lap and with all the dust that got kicked up we had move forward really cautiously. I was relaxed throughout in order to avoid risks and I felt good again on a motorcycle after such a long time.”
Jordi Viladoms
“Today’s special stage was a typical Morocco stage with lots of rocky tracks, holes, and lots of dust. I started off the first lap behind Ullevalseter and caught up to him towards the midpoint but with all the dust that was kicked up I wasn’t able to pass him until the last twenty kilometers. But when we started up in the second lap, it was a lottery because the trucks started first and there was a lot of traffic. As the first motorcycles, we found lots of trucks and you had to try to get ahead quickly or going behind the cloud of dust got really dangerous.”
