The Repsol rider finishes second in a competitive Dakar edition, gone astray in the penultimate stage due to a failure of the gearbox when he was fighting for victory
Marc Coma finished today in Lima, Peru, a new edition of the Dakar, where he finally achieved a well-deserved second position. The Repsol rider was one of the main protagonists and candidates to the final triumph, achieving more stages wins than any other rival —five— until a failure in the last stage left him out of the battle for victory. Despite the mechanical problems, Coma was able to complete the route and reach the finish line today, where he was second in an edition won by Cyril Despres.
Two weeks of competition, 13 timed stages and nearly 9,000 kilometres crossing three countries —Argentina, Chile and Peru— were the scene of one of the toughest races in the planet. In this edition, despite changing the usual route from the previous visits to the South American continent and ending in the Pacific Coast, Coma was once again one of the references of the race. His duel with Despres was one of the closest ever, a rivalry that was not without controversy and that in the end finished with the French rider’s victory.
Both riders have been alternating victories in the race since 2005 and, after this year’s result, in Coma’s mind there is already the aim to work to recover the title in the next edition. He has already participated ten times and his brilliant track record includes three triumphs —2006, 2009 and 2011—, two second places —2005 and 2012—, apart from four World Championships, always with Repsol’s support.
Marc Coma,
“After overcoming yesterday’s disappointment, today the feelings are a bit different. I am happy and I think we must be proud of the race we did. We fight against all odds and we had a chance to victory up until the last day. I think the final assessment is positive. We go knowing we competed well, we fought until the end and, although we had to recover during the race we must be happy of the Dakar we did. We’ll be back next year”.
