The 2015 Dakar Rally->ke2159 ended up becoming one of the most eventful races in recent memory. It pretty much had everything, from tremendous highs and awful lows. In the end, though, it was Marc Coma->ke1959 who came out on top, taking home his fifth Dakar Rally championship in the motorcycle segment and moving him one away from tying Stephane Peterhansel’s all-time mark of six Dakar Rally titles. Oh, and Coma’s fifth title also puts him in a tie with rival Cyril Despres. That's good for him, at least as far as bragging rights are concerned.

Coma’s fifth Dakar title would’ve been more impressive if it wasn’t for the team he was riding for, KTM->ke1954. The Austrian bike maker recorded its 14th straight Dakar Rally title, an incredible achievement no matter which way you slice it.

Both the rider and his team should be proud of this result, not only because it asserted their dominance over the world’s most treacherous off-road rally but also because it showed how much room there is for other competitors to improve before they can even come close to competing against Coma and KTM. That’s not to say that there wasn’t any competition throughout the race. In fact, Honda’s->ke291 Joan Barreda actually led the overall standings for a significant part of the race, only to see his lead disappear after his CRF450 Rally succumbed to electrical damage in one of the later stages of the race. If that didn’t happen, we’d probably be singing a different tune by now.

But things happen at the Dakar Rally. That’s why it’s called the most difficult racing series in the world. Heck, just a little over half of the 420 competitors managed to finish the race. But Coma and KTM soldiered on, taking home the title and ensuring that every other motorcycle team in the race has another year to lament over what it needs to do to take out Coma and KTM’s reign at the Dakar Rally.

Click past the jump to read more about Marc Coma's fifth Dakar Rally title.

Why it matters

Five Dakar Rally titles in the motorcycle segment is pretty hard to do. The fact that Marc Coma as joined the esteemed list of riders with five titles under his belt is incredibly impressive. Oh, and that doesn't even include his status as six-time Cross Country Rallies World Champion.

Coma is built for a race like the Dakar Rally and his five titles - won in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2015 - further cements his status as one of the best motorcycle riders in the long and illustrious history of the racing series. Had he won in 2012 (he finished second) and raced in 2013 (he didn't enter), we could be looking at the winningest rider in the history of the Dakar Rally.

But don't sleep on that still happening in the future. All signs point to Coma returning next year to vie for a third-straight Dakar Rally title, which would be his sixth overall, putting him on equal terms with the great Stephane Peterhansel.

Who knows, I might be back here two years from now, telling all of you about Coma's historic seventh Dakar Rally title. With the way he's performed in the series and the bike he has at his disposal (14 straight titles for KTM is beyond ridiculous), that scenario isn't as unlikely as a lot of people are making it out to be.