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2011 Pharaons Rally
The start of Pharaons Rally´s first stage was celebrated today next to the Pyramids. Competitors launched the adventure into the Egyptian desert for the first 470 km between Cairo and Tibniya and, as they shared at the bivouac, it wasn’t an easy job to complete it.
The bike race has already its leader personified by KTM’s Marc Coma. The Spaniard opened the track for the selective section of 356 km.
Then, the rider showed off his great control over the tracks and his KTM that he didn´t ride since Sardinia Rally. Behind him, war was declared… with a Jordi Viladoms particularly fast on his Yamaha. The Catalonian rider, Coma´s former team mate who suffered an accident in Sardinia, proved his force by finishing second.
Third was the Poland rider Jakub Przygonski (KTM 450) followed by the World Championship leader, Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha 450). Hard day for "Chaleco" López, whose clutch stop working at km 260 km, while he was trying to take the lead with Marc Coma and Jakub Przygonski.
Pharaons Rally Stage 1 Rider Quotes:
Marc Coma (KTM) says: "This first stage wasn’t easy, there was lots of off track and the stage was varied. The bike had a great behavior and I am feeling good on it, the engine is great. There were some visibility problems because of the dust, but it was fine."
Jordi Viladoms (Yamaha) says: "This is my first race after my fall in Sardinia. I couldn´t make much of cross country and we worked a lot in the engine after Tunisia so I am here to test its maximum performance. I took this day to get in shape, and now we need to test it in order to get it to its highest point, so even if we break it, it will be fine."
Jakub Przygonski (KTM) says: "I´ve been here for the last three years and today´s stage was harder than the last two. It was dangerous; there were holes and no place for navigation mistakes. There were hard stony tracks and very fast too. I got to 149 km/h!"
Marek Dabrowski (KTM) says: "This is the first time I race with the KTM 450 and I think this new generation bike is just great, it is lighter and by the end of the stage you feel the difference. It is true that it is faster in the open desert with the 690 bike but now that is not so common, so after I won the Open Class Championship in Sardinia, this is my first run with the 450 before the Dakar."
