Wednesday, January 11 2012
Monday, day 8 of the Dakar race, Marc Coma started out in first position followed closely by Cyril Despres. However, trouble struck not long after as the track turned into deep mud- the result of recent rain gathering in an old river bed. Coma successfully navigated the muddy track without any problems, but Despres got well and truly stuck, ended up 15 minutes behind Coma and wasn’t happy about it.
Despres’ team complained as organisers in fact closed of that section of the track after more riders became stuck. The race stewards agreed to credit Despres with the time he lost, thus leaving him only 1 minute 24 seconds behind Coma. This seems rather unfair as Coma managed not to get stuck and yet was not awarded additional time in accordance with the ‘rule’ which seems to have been applied to Despres.
Alex Doringer, Team Manager for the KTM Factory Team: “We welcome the fact that Cyril’s times have been reinstated, but we feel that if this decision was based on sporting fairness, then Marc’s time should also have been adjusted”
Marc Coma: “It was a very long special. I was lucky not to lose too much time in the mud and then I saw I could open a gap, so I attacked really hard. This is my 20th special victory. That’s a nice figure but it’s not winning the special that counts, it’s winning the race. And I know there is still a long week of racing ahead.”
