Dakar Rally Stage 13: Coma Wins Fifth Dakar Rally

Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma cruised back to Buenos Aires, Argentina, today, to claim his fifth career Dakar Rally victory.

Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma cemented his legend in the Dakar Rally by becoming a five-time winner of the legendary off-road race today.

Coma finished the grueling South American rally by riding triumphantly in a rain-shortened final stage from Rosario to Buenos Aires and posting a fifth-place finish in Stage 13 to claim the golden trophy for the second year in a row. Coma completed the 13-stage rally with a time of 46 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds. His margin of victory over second-placed Paulo Goncalves was 16 minutes and 53 seconds. The win leaves him tied with Despres and just one win short of the all-time record for motorcycle wins set by Stéphane Peterhansel, and it also makes him one of a handful of back-to-back winners that includes back-to-back winners that includes Cyril Neveu (1979, ’80 and ’86, ‘87), Gaston Rahier (1984, ’85), Peterhansel (1991, ’92, ’93 and ’97, ’98), Richard Sainct (1999, 2000), Fabio Meoni (2001, ’02) and Despres (2012, ’13).

“I’m over the moon, that’s for sure,” Coma said. “But even on the last day we weren’t able to take it easy. There was a storm, the ground got muddy and with desert tires it wasn’t too easy. Fortunately, we finished a bit more normally after the organizers shortened the special. Even today it wasn’t a walk in the park. I had a problem with the tire, so I had to change tack. I had to push hard, so I set a strong pace. I had to do it to make things happen. Our arrival in Bolivia heralded a decisive moment. We knew that. I survived and made it through Salar de Uyuni. That was the key moment. So I’m very happy. Delighted to be here. It’s been a life’s work with the entire team, the ideal bike… Now, after so much effort, it’s time to relax and have fun.”

Coma’s chances for a repeat seemed to be in doubt early in the rally as Team HRC Honda’s Joan Barreda racked up stage wins and at one time held a 12-minute advantage over the field. The two Spanish riders battled back and forth on the routes in the early days of the rally, playing cat and mouse, riding together and seemingly battling over the same 2-minute margin at each day’s end. That all changed in Stage 8 after his Spanish rival suffered an electrical failure and had to be towed to Iquique by Jeremías Israel Esquerre, losing over 2 hours in the overall standings and dropping out of the hunt for the win.

Coma took over from there, but he still had to battle Barreda’s teammate, Goncalves, who remained within striking distance until making the necessary but costly decision to change engines after Stage 11 and accept the attendant time penalty. That penalty would account for most of the time difference between Coma and Goncalves in the final standings.

“I’m happy to make it here in second place overall,” Goncalves said. “I started the rally in second place, then I fell to third and, in the end, I climbed back up. There was a time when I was within striking distance of Marc Coma because there were hardly five minutes between us, but then I got a penalty for changing my engine. Joan Barreda also pulled off an amazing race, and he held the lead until Uyuni. A bit later, I was helped by my teammate Jeremías Israel, who gave me his engine and without whom I’d never made it here to take second place. So this one’s for him. And we’ll try again next year.”

One of the amazing stories this year, Australia’s Toby Price had a brilliant rally in his rookie debut, winning Stage 12 and ultimately claiming third overall. The 27-year-old Price displayed the maturity of a rally veteran, suffering only a few navigational miscues along the way but riding with the heart of a champion to record a string of eight top-five Stage finishes en route to third overall. The result marks the best rookie finish by a motorcycle competitor since Price’s countryman Andy Haydon finished third in 1998.

“Being here in third place is insane!” Price said. “I’m at a loss for words. When I decided to sign up three or four months ago, I was quite nervious, I didn’t know what I was getting into. And now I’m on the finish line… happy.”

But Price’s finish was also a warning of the intensity that we can expect in future Dakar Rally competitions, as Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla, Slovakia’s Ivan Jakes–winner of today’s stage as well as stage 11, Great Britain’s Sam Sunderland and Austria’s Matthias Walkner all emerged at part of a new generation of threats for the Dakar Rally win. There is little doubt that all will be factors against the more established riders, such as Coma, Ruben Faria, Goncalves and Barreda if all should return for the rally in 2016.

And team HRC’s Laia Sanz deserves to be counted among them, the Spanish lady showing extreme mettle as she recorded top-10 stage finishes, including one fifth-place finish, and made it back to Buenos Aires in ninth overall.

The 2015 Dakar Rally has only been over hours, but speculation about this legendary event has already begun and will likely continue right up until the flag falls to start Stage 1 in 2016.

20i5 Dakar Rally
Stage 13
Rosario-Buenos Aires, Argentina
Results: January 17, 2015 (Stage 13 of 13)
1. Ivan Jakes (SVK)-KTM/52 minutes, 51 seconds
2. Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/+00:00:45
3. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/+00:01:07
4. Paulo Goncalves (PRT)-Hon/+00:01:15
5. Marc Coma (ESP)-KTM/+00:03:11
6. Hans Vogels (NLD)KTM/+00:3:36
7. Frans Verhoeven (NLD)-Yam/+00:04::35
8. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)-KTM/+00:04:52
9. Xavier De Soultrait (FRA)-Yam/+00:05:54
10. Laia Sanz (ESP)-Hon/+00:07:55

2015 Dakar Rally Final Standings (After 13 of 13 rounds)
1. Marc Coma (ESP)-KTM/46 hours, 3 minutes, 49 seconds
2. Paulo Goncalves (PRT)-Hon/+00:16:53
3. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/+00:23:14
4. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)-KTM/+00:38:38
5. Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/+00:44:17
6. Ruben Faria (PRT)-KTM/+01:57:50
7. David Casteu (FRA)-KTM/+02:00:14
8. Ivan Jakes (SVK)-KTM/+02:18:18
9. Laia Sanz (ESP)-Hon/+02:24:21
10. Oliver Pain (FRA)-Yam/+03:09:09