The dunes near Lake Iriki have again become the scene of a new leg in the Morocco Rally, where Marc Coma and Jordi Viladoms have managed to set the pace. This was Marc Coma’s first victory in the race, having covered the timed 155 kilometres with minutes and 30 seconds over Viladoms, and 4 minutes 38 seconds ahead of Cyril Despres, who remains the leader of the event with a lead of 7 minutes and 5 seconds over Marc Coma.
Setting off back in fifth and thirteenth place, the Repsol riders went on the attack again in today’s leg to try and regain the ground lost in the last two days. The first 50 kilometres were along a track which they already covered in the opposite direction two days beforehand; a track which the passing of the rally had left with quite a bit of fesh-fesh and dust and which might have had the odd concealed danger in the form of a pothole or covered rock.
The competitors then moved into the dunes close to Lake Iriki, and this is where Coma and Viladoms managed to force the pace to close the gap in the general scratch. Finally the leg had a last stretch which went along a river of sand up to the line for the special. It was a nice leg which has let Marc Coma arrive at the last day tomorrow with some chance of battling for victory.
It will be a last timed special over 182 kilometres, firstly along sandy tracks until they come to a more technical and winding zone.
Marc Coma
“It went well today and it was about time too. We had a special with sand again, although the first part was along pretty quick tracks. In the Lake Iriki zone we came across bigger and bigger dunes and it was quite good fun. In the end there was a bit more navigation until we came to a river of sand that went on up to the finish of the special. The sand was in good condition because in the last couple of days the temperatures have dropped and the dunes weren’t too tricky. It was a day to enjoy, which is good too, because in such a short race and having had problems over two days, unless something happens it’s very hard to recover. We’ve still got tomorrow and of course we’re going to give it a crack and attack from the word go.”
Jordi Viladoms
“I started pretty far behind in thirteenth place and I knew I was going to run into a lot of dust but I managed to come back well and overtake several competitors. I was a bit surprised to see I’d come in second, so I’m very happy, because we knew that we’d have to suffer from riding through dust and it went well. In the part with the dunes I made the most of the chance to get some ground back and it came off well. You had to keep your eyes on the roadbook because this is a zone where a lot of tourists come and the sand is full of tyre marks, so you had to get involved with marks that aren’t from the race. We’ve got just one day to go and managing to get on the podium will be hard because unless somebody messes things up third place is well ahead.”
