Dakar Rally 2011 won by Marc Coma on KTM Motorcycle
Dakar Rally Media - Jan 17, 2011

Marc Coma grabbed his third title! Coma along with Despres dominated the remainder of the 94 bikes to finish the 9500 Km/5903 mile rally that reached the final finishing line of the Personal Dakar Argentina Chile in Buenos Aires.

Ninety-four motorcycles finished the Rally: 34 KTMs, 21 Yamahas, 19 Hondas, 8 Aprilias, 5 BMWs, 2 each Shercos and Jinchengs, 1 BETA and 2 other.

One hundred eighty contestants started the race on January 1 on 15 different brands of motorcycles. KTM entered 62; Yamaha 41; Honda 31; Aprilia 13; BMW 9; Beta 7; Husaberg, Sherco, Jincheng, and Kawasaki 3 each; Rieju 2; and Husquarna, Bultago and JVO 1 each. 

The heros of the 33^rd edition Dakar Rally (Coma on his KTM motorcycle, Alejandro Patronelli on his Quad, Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah in his automobile, and Vladimir Chagin in his truck), were celebrated at a both festive and formal final podium ceremony at the La Rural exhibition centre.

This win is number three for Coma. For the last six years, two men have dominated the bike category in the last six editions. Marc Coma and Cyril Despres have stood head and shoulders above the competition. As proof, the gap to the third placed rider stands at 1 hour and 40 minutes.

This 33rd edition eventually turned in favour of Coma due to two race incidents. The first was disciplinary in nature, when Despres received a 10-minute time penalty for failing to respect the rules in the starting zone. The second, and most significant, took place on the route to Chilecito. In an infernal game of cat and mouse, the Frenchman was too hasty, made a mistake in reading the road-book and ended up on the wrong course for a good while. Wanting to attack too much, the hunter had fallen into his own trap. Despres was surely thinking he could cause his rival to succumb to the pressure, like in 2007, when the Catalan lost his first place two days from the end due to a fall, but this time it was the Frenchman who lost out.

Despres elaboratedl; I am sad I could not do better than this though I raced 11 Dakar, won 3 and ended 8 times on the podium. One more would have been great. But I just could not make any better. I made some mistakes; they were two small mistakes but they held some heavy consequences. At 36 years old, you have to admit that on a Dakar that is 9,000-km long, there is absolutely no room for error. You can't afford to have the slightest problem. I've got mixed feeling in the end, but you can't forget that over the 9,000 km, the people we see and the landscapes we cross are also part of the reasons we come and race the Dakar. I love motorbikes, I love the desert and I love the Dakar. Now the rules are perhaps slightly different from what I'd imagine, but you just have to go along with it.

Four days from the end of the race, the gap of more than 18 minutes had become a chasm that was too wide to leap, all the more so because Coma managed to ride a perfect race, combining performance and experience. On his KTM 450 RR, the 34-year old rider won 5 special stages, two more than the Frenchman. At the final finishing line, the Spaniard drew alongside his rival with a 3rd rally victory and a final lead of 15'04 in the general standings. 

Behind this duo, the battle for the last place on the podium witnessed a more than unpredictable conclusion. Comfortably sat in third, Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez had a lead of 43 minutes with 182 km of racing left. However the last special of the rally was a nightmare for the Chilean. A broken suspension arm knocked “Chaleco” off the podium. In his place came an incredulous Helder Rodrigues who, in addition to his special stage victory in Arica, allowed Yamaha to beat Aprilia. However, the Japanese constructor Yamaha was also in the spotlight, thanks to Jonah Street and his stage win in Copiapo.

Another official brand also had its slice of the cake: the BMW team left the Dakar with two stage victories for Paulo Gonçalves in Iquique and Frans Verhoeven, its leading representative who finished 15th in the general standings.

A lot was expected of him and he did not disappoint: for his first participation, the three times winner of the Baja 1000, Quinn Cody, quickly learned the particularly specific skills of the rally-raid. The American, on a Honda which he only discovered in Buenos Aires just before the race, finished ten of the thirteen stages in the Top 15 (including two in the Top 10), completing the rally as the best rookie in 9th place with a very comfortable lead of 2 hours on the next man, Chilean Daniel Gouet. Admittedly, Cody did not do as well as David Frétigné, who finished 7th on his first Dakar in 2004, but has a promising future in the discipline.

Another rookie, Spaniard Laia Sanz is not just a pretty face. The many times world trial champion, expertly coached and guided by the experienced Jordi Arcarons, triumphed in the women's race, finishing her first Dakar in 39th position. Hugo Payen claimed the distinction of being the leading rider in the bike-trunk category. Without the slightest assistance, the Frenchman finished in a very respectable 49th position.