| KTM's
Marc Coma victorious in the Pharaons Rally & wins
world title |
| KTM factory rider Marc
Coma on Saturday wound up the six stage Pharaons Rally
in Egypt's desert sands with a victory that also
secured the 2010 World Rally Championship title for
the Spanish rider. |
|
The rally was also important for KTM's Tim
Trenker, competing for KTM-UAE who finished sixth overall but
won the 2010 World Championship Open Production title, the
first ever to go to the Emirates.
Coma won four of the six stages in this race that took riders
from Cairo to El Alamein on the coast of the Mediterranean
through exquisite but always challenging classic desert
terrain. The "four" turned out to be a magic number
for Spain's Coma who said after reaching the finish:
"Four, four, four! Four for the stages I won, four times
the Pharaons Rally, and four world championships. With this
fourth victory I have reached the same number of victories of
Fabrizio Meoni at the Pharaons so this is a special time to
remember him."
Coma's ride
It was in Stage Two, a difficult run of 366km from El Rammak
to the bivouac of Bir Karawein, and on a day where the heat
was the main character that Marc began to take control of the
race. Lying in a tactical third overall, Coma was by
then really enjoying himself and attacked right from the
outset.
Stunning scenery but over hard stony surfaces and seemingly
endless dunes was what the third stage delivered and Coma,
ever the tactical maestro as well as superb on his KTM 690
took the prudent strategic approach to finish third in the
overall results on the even of that was going to be the
longest leg of the rally on day four - 436 km to the Sitra
Oasis.
Marc Coma: When we got to the fastest 100 km of the
day, the sun was high above and it was impossible to
distinguish obstacles so I left off the gas a bit." The
Spanish rider said he was happy to reduce the gap between him
and the overall leader and that he had been able to keep off
advances by the Polish KTM rider Jakub Przygonski, who was the
only rider able to challenge him for the world title going
into the rally.
Birthday victory
Day four was an occasion for Marc to celebrate his second
stage win and also his birthday in an environment where he was
clearly feeling like a winner as he made a decisive attack on
the overall rankings. At the end of the day Coma was trailing
Chile's Francisco Lopez by eight minutes overall, draing the
battle lines for the final two stages.
Closing in for victory
Stage five was another triumph for Coma who set off at dawn
from Sitra and quickly mastered the dunes in the first special
of 412 km and at the end of the day he had closed down on
Lopez in the general standings and set the stage for a
thrilling battle for the final honors. Coma was primed
with confidence and went into the final day with one intention
- to wrap up the 2010 Pharaons Rally in style and secure his
world championship rally title. It was a classic finish to the
rally and delivered yet another triumph to the Spanish rider
and KTM.
The sole woman quad entrant Camelia Liparoti of Italy finished
the tough Pharaons Rally in mid field at 31st competing in a
KTM 525 XC,
Results
1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM 690 (World Rally Champion 2010) -
winning margin 8 minutes 23 seconds
2, Francisco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia 450
3, Helder Rodriguez, Portugal, Yamaha 450
4, Jakub Przygonski, Poland, KTM 690
5, Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM 690
6, Tim Trenker, Germany (for KTM UAE), KTM 690
|
|
 |
| Champagne moment for 2010 World Rally
Champion Marc Coma |
|
 |
| Coma pays tribute to his KTM 690 |
|
 |
| Coma mastering the dunes |
|
 |
| Coma also excels on fast run over the
stones |
|
 |
| Marc Coma and Tim Trenker bring home
two world titles after Pharaons Rally |
|
|
