After leading the first Central European Rally special with authority yesterday, today got off to a bad start for the Repsol KTM Team rider. First thing this morning, when he making the day’s first connection to the start of the day’s special, Coma was hit by a car -still in Baia Mare- which suddenly turned left without indicating. Fortunately the incident happened at low speed and Coma was able to continue his journey to the starting point of the first special.
After completing the 40 kilometer connection between Baia Mare and the starting point of the first 76 Km special, Coma held a good pace throughout the same. Today’s special was complicated by stony and eroded ground. At some points, the lack of visibility due to the bright/shady patches caused by the trees lining the road made it hard to have a clear view of the ground. And it was at one of those points where Marc Coma suffered his accident, just a few kilometers away from the end of the special. His front wheel hit a half-buried stone in the middle of his path, and the Repsol rider was thrown into the air, badly hitting his right knee. At this point, Marc Coma was riding full throttle in fourth gear, at about 70 Km/h. In spite of losing over a minute with the fall, Marc finished the special with the second fastest time, behind Casteu. After completing the 30 Km connection to Baia Mare, the mechanics worked fast at the assistance park to repair the damage to his bike, while Marc and his team checked the damage to his right knee. Once again on the road, completing the 40 Km connection to the start of the day’s second special, the Repsol KTM Team rider was forced to turn back and head for the assistance park, and withdraw from the Dakar Series test. He will fly today from Baia Mare to Barcelona, through Vienna. Coma is expected to arrive at Terminal B in Prat Airport, Barcelona, at 11:00 pm, on Austrian Airline flight OS 395.Marc Coma >> Audio Today wasn’t our day. I had a fall very close to the end of the special. It was a hard fall, though I was able to get up, continue and finish the special. But I was hurt. I went back to Baia Mare to get assistance, and tried to ride off to the day’s second special, but realised that I was really hurt. My knee started to swell and I couldn’t bend it, so I had no other choice. It’s a shame after all the hard work by the team and everyone involved. Now we have to have a look at the state of my knee, and try to recover as fast as possible to be back in action. The fall happened at quite high speed, where no hazards were marked in the roadbook, but there must have been a stone or something, I can’t exactly tell, and I was flung straight over my bike. The fall was hard, because it was at high speed. These things can happen. In the morning, starting the connection, I already had a fright with a car that didn’t obey a Stop sign and knocked me off my bike. But it wasn’t a big deal, more of an anecdote than anything else, because there was no damage to myself or the bike. I looks like today just wasn’t our day.
