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Roma: “Maybe we were a little too conservative”
He has rarely been talked about, has not won a single stage, yet he finished the 2019 Dakar in second place aboard his Mini John Cooper Works Rally 4×4. Nani Roma led a race free of errors, which allowed him to finish as the best representative of the X-Raid team, ahead of the trio of buggies entrusted to Carlos Sainz, Cyril Despres and Stéphane Peterhansel.
Joan @NaniRoma with @Mini logra a brilliant second puesto in one @dakar very demanding
• “We finish all the content in Dakar, which is very hard and demanding” https://t.co/mO8J7YqAYF pic.twitter.com/L8imlVKAYo— Nani Roma Dakar (@NaniRoma) 17th January 2019
To record this podium (his fourth in the Auto category), Nani Roma demanded extra effort from his co-driver Alex Haro. “My co-driver injured his ribs and suffered a lot at the end of the rally, reveals the Spaniard. I have to thank him, it's been driving for five days with cracks (contracted after a hard bump. Editor’s note). People who have had this problem know how much it hurts! »
This performance is underlined by the age of its equipment. The 4×4 Mini made its rally-raid debut in 2010, nine years ago! It was on board that the Spaniard won the 2014 edition. “We are happy, because it was a very hard race, there were a lot of very stressful days. In fact, we never had a second of respite. I'm happy to be here and to come second”, continues Nani Roma.
The Catalan's strategy was to ride by hand, without risking breakage. “We drove calmly and consistently until the end. Maybe we were a little too conservative, with lots of parts (spare) in the car, especially during the marathon stage. We thought the others would have had a lot more problems, but Nasser (Al-Attiyah) was very clean. »
Nani Roma leaves Peru with a smile on his face. “It’s a great feeling, especially since the value of a result is also in light of the opponents we had to face. When we fight against people like Sébastien Loeb, Carlos Sainz, Stéphane Peterhansel or Nasser Al-Attiyah, that represents a lot. Nasser ran a perfect race, he made no mistakes and undoubtedly deserves his victory, congratulations. But this edition, with lots of dunes, sand and off-piste, was made for him. »
Medhi Casaurang
Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!
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