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Just before finishing the second liaison, the MRW rider is runner-up after winning five stages and despite having a mechanical failure that prevented him from continue fighting for victory
With the last 29 timed kilometres already done and before finishing the last liaison, Marc Coma finishes in second position in a new Dakar edition. Always spectacular, the race was one more year a titanic round able to offer the most beautiful competitive images in the most hostile landscapes of the planet, where the duel between Cyril Despres and the MRW rider, today Champion and second placed, respectively, kept the excitement until the end.
The mechanical failure he suffered yesterday prevented Coma from keeping the pressure on the French rider, after winning more stages -five- than any other rival. This afternoon the Dakar 2012 will finish in Lima, where the award ceremony will take place after 14 stages, three countries and nearly 9,000 kilometres. In his tenth participation, the MRW rider already has three overall wins –2006, 2009 y 2011– and two second places -2005 and 2012-, thus confirming himself as one of the well-known names of the race.
What is your assessment of this 2012 Dakar ?
“I think the overall assessment is positive. We competed well and kept the winning options until the end, despite being behind a lot of the race. There is also the marshal's decision, difficult to understand, of giving back to Cyril [Despres] the time he lost the day of the problems. But apart from that, I think we did a very good race”.
Second overall position, five stage wins... Your aim was victory but, what do you think about the result?
“The objective was to win, but if you analyze the results, you can see that finishing second, win five stages and, above all, the race we did as a whole, I think we can be very happy”.
The mechanical failures are always something to take into account, it hurts more if they arrive the last day?
“We already had it difficult to win the Rally, because it was a complicated stage, with a lot of kilometers of dunes when I had to open track, but it is true that it makes you feel bad not being able to fight until the end, as we had during the whole rally. It is part of the game and in the Dakar the mechanical side is very important”.
What was the toughest thing of this edition?
“I think the fact that in some moments I had the feeling I was fighting against many factors”.
How demanding was this edition's route?
“At the beginning of the rally, in Argentina, it was very tough due to the weather conditions: we had 50ºC and the stages were very broken due to the rain of the previous days. In Chile we found a terrain we are more used to and everyone knew more or less what to expect. Finally, Peru surprised us for the toughness of the route. I think nobody expected the difficulties we had in the last days”.
How did you see Pedrero and what happened when he had to retire?
“I am very happy with the job done by Joan [Pedrero]. In the end, a mechanical failure left him out, but I think he is a crucial piece of the team. The fact that he did not finish was a setback, because the ideal thing is to have his support until the end”.
