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 | Pharaons Rally: Marc Coma takes the leadership with only 27 seconds on SS5.
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The rally caravan arrives to Siwa after completing the fifth stage of Pharaons Rally 2010. After a 419 km of special section starting next to Sitra´s bivouac, crews and riders are now next to the Great Sand Sea in Siwa.
It was in a fast stage with some dunes that Marc Coma showed the power of his wonderful skills on his KTM 690 cc bike. The Spanish was the fastest in the stage, followed by Chilean rider Francisco "Chaleco" López, 4:23 minutes behind. After this result, Marc Coma takes back the time lost in the beginning of the race and takes the top position overall one day before the end of the race and gets closer to the FIM World Title.
"My goal was to be the fastest to arrive to the refueling" Coma said. "I got there and as always, I keep pushing to make the difference. The disadvantage is that tomorrow I will have to open the road for the last stage."
But the final victory of Pharaons Rally 2010 has not been written yet. Before the final stage, yesterday´s leader Chaleco López is now the second - and only 27 seconds away from Coma, while Helder Rodrigues is 9:30 mins from the leader. The Chilean and the Portuguese show their talent on their 450 cc bikes and won´t let the possibility to climb the standings tomorrow.
"It was the perfect stage for 690 cc bikes" told the Chilenian Lopez. "Tomorrow the stage will be alike, so I have to control to keep my second place overall."
Another motobiker is aiming a FIM Worldcup title: The German Tim Trenker only has to finish the rally tomorrow - and he will be the Champion in the Production Class. Today the German showed again that he´s a good driver and climbed from 8th to 6th overall. "It was a really hard stage" Trenker told. "The Grand Sand Sea was incredible, you neede 100 percent concentration. On midday the sun goes higher and it becomes even more difficult to read the dunes - but finally I made it."
Today, two promising riders quit the race: Joan Barreda broke the engine 40 kilometers before the end of the special and Alex Zanotti lost control in a bump and crashed the bike. Fortunately, the Italian was not hurt in the incident.
In Quads, Marcos Patronelli eventually will get his fifth consecutive victory in Egypt. The Yamaha rider aims to keeps his pace to get to the finish line tomorrow. "Lots of sand today. It was easy but also dangerous. So far I have a big time difference with the second quad (Rafal Sonik), so I have to stay focused to finish my first race in Africa."
Tomorrow all crews will run the last stage of Pharaons 2010: A fast stage that will take competitors from Siwa to the podium in El Alamein.
2010/10/08 | 17:39 CET | EDITOR: MR/HS
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