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Marc Coma Details the Dakar 2017, Waiting for Valentino Rossi to Join the Rally

Marc Coma, the Sporting Director of the Dakar and five-time winner of this grueling cross-country competition offered more details about what will happen in South America in the 2017 edition of the rally. Alongside the info on the new route, Coma also mentioned the name of Valentino Rossi and there may be something to this...
Toby Price, winner of the Dakar 2016 1 photo
Photo: Red Bull
We already reported about the new route for the 39th edition of the Dakar, which will include, for the first time, Paraguay. The new country was added to the 2017 rally after Chile and Peru preferred to stay out of this edition because of both financial and environmental issues.

Coma, who is also a Dakar icon winning in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2015 on a KTM, spoke about the high-altitude stages in Bolivia, which are envisioned to be a very tough section of the 2017 edition. With the vehicles having to cross regions as high as 4,000 m (13,123 ft), both engines' power and the physical strength of the rider will be put to the test.

Even the rest day which is scheduled for January 8 will be at high altitude in the Bolivian capital La Paz, at over 3,600 meters (11,810 ft) above sea level.

The Dakar Sporting Director did not unveil too much about the special stages in northern Bolivia, but instead he said that they will be full of surprises. Albeit not the sand dunes pictured on the Dakar brochure, the Bolivian stages will comprise lots of sand and mixed terrain, plus breathtaking landscapes.

"Loeb arrived in the Dakar, now we are waiting for Valentino Rossi"

Talking about how the presence of WRC champion Sebastien Loeb caused the interest in the Dakar to skyrocket, Marc Coma added some fuel to the fire mentioning the name of nine-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi.

"The arrival of Loeb last year was an accelerator of interest. Now we wait for Valentino Rossi. I read that after the bikes, he will concentrate on four wheels, and he would like to race the Dakar. He would be welcome. Valentino was able to go fast by any means, and therefore I expect him to be a fast driver immediately, although in the Dakar experience matters quite a lot," he said.

Reportedly, Rossi replied to Coma's comment adding that he'd love to drive a car in the Dakar Rally, but for now, he has to focus on MotoGP. The Doctor in the Dakar rally would be quite an interesting perspective, given his rally experience in the Monza Shows...
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