Test Ride: KTM 990 Adventure, BMW F800ST, Buell 1125R,Victory Vision ...
After forgoing the ritual last year, we've reinsated our annual fall tour; four riders testing four different bikes, over five days. The bikes ...
Coma wins stage to stay in hunt
KTM supported rider Marc Coma signaled his never say die spirit on Day Six of the 2010 Dakar by taking another stage victory and vaulting up to fourth in the overall standings. Coma's stage victory on Thursday was also indicative of his superb navigational skills.
Second across the line in Stage Six was KTM's Cyril Despres who, wishing to preserve his advantage in the overall standings, rode a steady tactical race. Despres now has an advantage of 42:15 at the end of a challenging day where riders traveled inland from Antofagasta in a wide sweeping curve and down to finish with a steep ride in soft sand at the Iquique bivouac on the Chilean coastline.
Coma, who on Wednesday said he would be taking the rest of the rally "one day at a time" sent a strong signal to the other riders that he is not done with the challenging terrain of Argentina and Chile just yet. The 2009 Dakar winner took the lead at the 153km mark and was the dominant rider for the rest of the day.
"On kilometre 29 there was a hidden way point," Coma said. "A lot of riders took it on the right, but with the dust and having left after the others, I really had a hard time. I kept a good pace. It was a very hard day actually. I think I must have passed quite a number of riders but there was so much dust... it was tricky. I am happy to have reached the finish without problems. I said I now wanted to win the day-to-day race after all the trouble I had and enjoy the race. Then we'll see. Each day I'll start the stage motivated."
Meanwhile it was the end of the road for the man who made a huge sporting gesture on Wednesday by offering his wheel to Coma when he ran into tire trouble. Italian KTM rider Luca Manca took a serious fall 10km into the special and was immediately evacuated to the Calama hospital. Manca was in ninth overall at the end...
