Sardinian soil safe in Coma's hands
By TMX Archives on 7th May 07
KTM factory rider Marc Coma on Sunday secured victory in the twenty first edition of the Sardinia Rally, which, after also winning the recent Tunisian Rally puts him in an excellent position to defend his world championship title.
The win in the second round of thechampionships on board his KTM 525 EXC machine is an excellent confidencebooster for Coma. In January, the 31-year-old Spaniard of the KTM Repsol RedBull Team looked certain to snatch the top podium spot for the legendary DakarRally when he crashed in the final stages and was forced to retire.
Fellow KTM rider David Casteu of Francewas second in Sardinia.The five stage rally took riders acrossthe length and breadth of the picturesque Mediterranean island and Coma finishedin true championship style, clinching eventual victory only in the final stage.
The Spaniard was second after the firststage, fourth after stage two, won stage three to top the generalclassification, slipped to second again in stage four and then charged home onth e last day to win both the final stage and the overall title.
Coma, who has been riding professionallysince 1993, is the current world champion. He won the Dakar in 2006 and theSardinia Rally in 2005 and 2006. He also has victories to his credit on Africanand South American soil.
Results
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM,11.12'50”65
2. David Casteu, France, KTM 11.15'17”84
3. Jose ManuelPellicer, Spain, KTM 11.16'00”84
4. Matteo Graziani, Italy, KTM 11.18'15”26
5. Francisco Lopez Contardo, Chile, Honda 11.27'23 "21