All-terrain – Marc Coma suspected of having illegally changed his wheel! –

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Marc Coma suspected of having illegally changed his wheel !

All-terrain - Marc Coma suspected of having illegally changed his wheel! -

David Fretigne (Yamaha) said on Friday that he strongly suspected his Spanish competitor Marc Coma (KTM) of having changed his wheel during the 7th stage of the Dakar, an illegal maneuver according to the rules in force in rally-raid…

David Fretigne (Yamaha) indicated on Friday that he strongly suspected his Spanish competitor Marc Coma (KTM) of having changed his wheel during the 7th stage of the Dakar, an illegal maneuver according to the rules in force in rally-raid…

6 hour penalty for Marc Coma
who denies having changed his wheel

Penalized by 6 hours by the race direction for having changed wheels during the 7th stage, Marc Coma denies having committed this illegal maneuver according to the rules in force in rally-raid, announced the race direction. "Between the stop he made on the link behind a house and the images we have thanks to Google which show precisely where he stopped and the time he stopped, plus the HD images this morning of the tire … These images are clear, the tire has not driven 200 km ", affirmed Marc Ducrocq, the motorcycle race director, adding that Coma" persists in saying that he has not changed wheel". "The decision was therefore taken by the race director to give him a penalty of six hours", he said..

This penalty inflicted on the Spanish removes a large part of the interest of the Dakar 2010 in the motorcycle category, Coma seeming to be the only rider able to worry the leader Cyril Despres, yet already more than an hour ahead of him in the general classification..

"Despres, it’s clear, has a boulevard in front of him, but we had nothing to do with it," observed Marc Ducrocq. "Our wish was for him to stay in the race, to be in the top 20, to leave the drivers who still fight a lot and have to fight without someone who has broken the rule a bit." , he explained. "Everyone knows he has tire problems. He tried to solve them his way. And he got caught", commented Mr. Ducrocq.

"For me, this decision is an injustice. At no time can we prove that I changed the wheel", defended Marc Coma, adding that he would take "a day of reflection" to know if he would start again. or not: "it depends a little on the mental state in which I find myself", he observed..

"At one point (during the neutralization of the stage for a few kilometers, editor’s note), I see a guy come back on the track. I say to myself" well, say so, this guy has screwed up! "I was kidding" , said David Fretigne. "And then I roll back a little faster, I join him and I see Marc. I say to myself" well, he had to stop (do his natural needs) ". And on arrival (at the checkpoint, editor’s note) , it’s Cyril (Despres) who sees the trick, who tells me: “Look, he changed the wheel.” Indeed, the wheel was new when we had just made 170 bollards full in the stones ”.

"It was especially Cyril who was angry"

"It was especially Cyril who was annoyed," continued David Fretigne. "Me, when I see that, I find it so small … I find it so weird that a guy like that did that. It doesn’t even appeal to me. I’m sorry for him".

France Television cameras would have taken shots of the wheel showing its lack of wear. The rally stewards, after visiting Marc Coma’s assistance truck, examining his tires, spoke around 7:30 p.m. (local) with the Spanish driver, double winner of the Dakar … To be continued stay tuned !

As for the race, Cyril Despres confirms his domination in the general classification by winning the 7th stage yesterday in front of Marc Coma (KTM) and David Fretigne (Yamaha). "I am tired because in addition, at km 150, I took a big bleed and I blew the hydraulics of the shock absorber. Since then, I ride on a spring. I took a lot of shocks in the arms, wrists, neck. It was already not easy. There, it became trying ", confided Despres:" the day of rest will be welcome. The bike has not suffered, despite the ‘absence of hydraulics. The screws must be reviewed now, but the bike brought me back here, that’s good, "said the leader..

A welcome day of rest

"This special was physically and mechanically demanding, with for example off-piste in big stones where I was driving first", for his part described Fretigne: "there was also a long cordon of dunes of more than 50 kilometers . It was really full! "

Finally Marc Coma, also marked by "an incredibly long stage", declared himself happy to have arrived at the day of rest to be able to "take care of the bike" and "to rest a little".

General motorcycle classification after the 7th stage

  • 1. Cyril Despres (FRA / KTM) in 28 h 10:13
  • 2. Marc Coma (ESP / KTM) at 1 h 06:50
  • 3. Helder Rodrigues (POR / Yamaha) at 1 h 20:08
  • 4. Pal Ullevalseter (NOR / KTM) at 1 h 25:52
  • 5. Francisco Lopez (CHI / Aprilia) at 1 h 31:04
  • 6. Alain Duclos (FRA / KTM) at 1 h 50:06
  • 7. David Fretigne (FRA / Yamaha) at 2 h 05:57
  • 8. Jonah Street (USA / KTM) 2:06:28
  • 9. Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP / KTM) at 2:25:43
  • 10. Jose Manuel Pellicer (ESP / Yamaha) at 2 h 26:22

LE JOURNAL MOTO DU NET (with AFP)

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