Dakar 2009; Coma leads stage three
Added on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Dakar 2009; Coma leads stage three
KTM rider Marc Coma leads at the close of stage three of the Dakar Rally 2009. Coma and KTM teammate Jordi Villadoms crossed the finishing line together yesterday, with both riders opting to run tubed tyres on the stage.
“It proved the right decision,” said Coma afterwards, “and it was a good day for us overall. We had no big problems, and managed to preserve our tyres and average speed, which was the important thing.”
Meanwhile KTM rider Cyril Despres was not so lucky. The Frenchman, a previous Dakar winner, chose bib mousse in his tyres, but suffered a slow deflation by the first checkpoint. Despres tried to fit a tube to his tyre but excess heat in the tyre and wheel rims made it difficult. In the end Despres lost more time and is now some 90 minutes behind the leaders. ” It is a long gap.” commented the Frenchman.
Brit rider Mick Extance is running in about 30th place overall, but is finding the going tough; “Yesterday was one of the worst stages I have ever ridden, at one point I felt like the Honda was almost flying over the bumps at about 80mph.”
The current standings are KTM’s Marc Coma leading, with David Fretigne on his Yamaha in 2nd, then Norwegian privateer Pal Ullevalseter in 3rd. Aussie BMW 650 racer Simon Pavey is about 100th overall and has eased his pace because of the dust on the special stages.
Strange as it may seem some riders have been fined for speeding on the Dakar, and Dutchman Jurgen van den Goorbergh was fined for popping a wheelie. ” It was worth the 50 euros fine to see the reaction of the crowd.” said an unrepentant Goorbergh later, who was trapped by his on-board GPS popping a wheelie in a speed restricted zone.
More at; www.dakar.com
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