The first stage of the Baja España Aragón sees Marc Coma in second place in the motorbike category and Stéphane Peterhansel and Nani Roma second and third in cars respectively. Coma started badly but got better…
Roma started very strongly, setting the best times during the first half of the stage. However an error at kilometre 100, where he almost rolled over, ended up with the Repsol driver`s Mitsubishi Montero Evolution off the road and the the car hit a small hump of earth. The time taken to check the damage, there was nothing important, get back on the road and pick up the race rhythm meant that the Spaniard lost precious seconds and this took the lead away from him. At the end of the stage, won by the Briton Colin McRae, Roma had lost one minute and nine seconds.His team mate Stéphane Peterhansel finished second 43 seconds behind the winner, the ex World Rally Champion Colin McRae. The French driver with the Team Mistsubishi Repsol Ralliart started very conservatively, and when he realised that his rivals were ahead of him it was too late for him to react. Even so, the difference is not very significant and he is aware that tomorrow`s racing will be decisive for the final outcome.In the motorbike category, Marc Coma is second in the classification at the end of the first stage. The Repsol rider finished the 188km special that today`s stage covered 12 seconds behind José Manuel Pellicer. The Repsol rider was the fourth under starter`s orders, thanks to the yesterday`s result in the superspecial and at kilometre 20 had reached Marc Guasch, the rider who started in front of him. He was not able to overtake him until halfway through this stage, since the characteristics of this race, with a lot of dust being lifted on the tracks in Soria, made overtaking a more than complicated task. In the end, before arriving at the service park, the Repsol rider was able to overtake him and during the second half of the special rode without anybody directly in front of him and was able to go at his own pace.Tomorrow will see the most important stage of this Baja España Madrid – Aragón, with two special stages, the first covers 252km and the second 85km.
