|
| News and products for the motorcycle enthusiast and professional |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
RALLY ORPI MAROC Lots of excitement also for the two wheels in the Rallye ORPI Maroc today. Four months after the race in Tunisia, Marc Coma (KTM Repsol) still finds the same pleasure in African rallying and grabbed the overall lead. Lucky yesterday evening with the drawing of lots for the starting order, the Catalan was already a comfortable 3 minutes ahead of Casteu (KTM Gauloises) and more than… six ahead of Despres (KTM Gauloises) on the first loop. As for Isidre Esteve his chances of victory evaporated at km 55 when the shock absorber of his new KTM broke apart and the winner of the last Rallye Optic 2000 Tunisie ended up around 42 minutes behind. In the second round Coma confirmed his form, moving Casteu to 4 minutes behind and Despres to almost 8 minutes! Leaving towards the end of the pack this morning, Chile’s Francisco Lopez (Honda 450) race was up to expectations: the South American is in the slipstream of the best 660s and in the 8th place overall — only a few seconds away from Michel Gau (KTM Gauloises), Cyril Despres’ water carrier. In the 450s Lopez outsmarts Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) by 8 minutes and is more than a quarter of an hour ahead of Polli and Charliat and Lazard’s KTMs. Meanwhile Polish Czachor (KTM) had to put an end to his race because of a broken motor. Marc Coma (Spa/KTM Repsol) : ''I’m very pleased with this first day. I made the most of my starting position to carve out some time for myself in the first loop. Then I stepped up the speed in the second run. It was dangerous but full of lessons for me.'' David Casteu (Fra/KTM Gauloises) : ''It started off very fast. You weren’t allowed to make any mistakes. I’m pleased not to have lost too much time to Marc. Cyril didn’t make a big hit today but I think he’ll soon be leading again…'' Cyril Despres (Fra/KTM Gauloises) : ''I’m above all relieved to have finished this stage without feeling the slightest pain in my shoulder or in my wrist. I feel completely fit. I’ve spent three difficult months and got back the feelings that I was hoping for. The new bike is amazing and I hope I’ll smoothly be upping the pace.'' Isidre Esteve (Spa/KTM Gauloises) : ''The shock absorber fell apart in a dip at km 55 on the first loop. I had to ride 80kms at a slow pace. Better it happening here though than on the Dakar. If the overall lead is unimaginable now, I can still hope to win some stages.'' Results 1st stage 1 COMA Marc (E)KTMSP 2h27’08 Photo courtesy of KTM
|
|
| Biker247.com is an Internet publication brought to you by The 247 Network - Visit our other sites at www.the247network.com. |
| The entire content included in this website, including but not limited to text, design, graphics, interfaces, or code and the selection and arrangements thereof is copyrighted as a collective work under the UK and other copyright laws and is the property of The 247 Network. |