MWR KTM rest day report

Marc Coma's numbers

#1 KTM: Marc Coma

Photo by: A.S.O.

Coma and Pedrero reach in full form the resting day, which marks the halfway point of a race that will be even tougher in the next days

With the New Year a new edition of the Dakar started, the ultimate Cross-Country Rally. The MRW riders completed without incidents the first half of the race, leaving behind nearly 4,500 kilometres, more than 1,500 of them timed. Ahead there are still 3,795 kilometres, 2,500 of stage where Marc Coma —second overall—, will try to turn around the result to achieve his fourth bronze touareg, the mythical prize for the race winner.

After seven days and six stages (organizers cancelled the sixth stage due to rain and snow), after 18 hours, 20 minutes and 26 seconds of competition, only 7 minutes and 48 seconds separate the MRW rider from Cyril Despres, leader of the overall standings. The Spaniard won no less than half the stages held up to now —three— in a hard-fought duel with the French rider. They both are showing a level well above their rivals, as the next one is nearly 50 minutes behind.

Starting a week ago in Mar del Plata, at sea level, the most extreme race in the world took the participants up to nearly 4,800 metres height in Paso de San Francisco, the required point to access Chile from Argentina, crossing the Andes. They were 4,494 kilometres travelled where Coma and Pedrero used nearly 400 litres of fuel and 10 litres of oil each, in six marathon days which required a new tyre set and a new brake set every day.

Ahead, seven new stages await the MRW Red Bull AMV Team. They will be 2,500 timed kilometres, nearly double of the ones held up to now, including the Atacama desert —the driest in the world— a marathon stage without any refuelling points and four days in Peru, the third country which will complete the 2012 edition of the Dakar, where the finish line will await the riders next Sunday.