Nani Roma Wins Dakar Rally

Nani Roma, longtime Dakar Rally competitor and 2013 X Games Barcelona entrant, took his second career Dakar victory on Saturday. A decade after winning the event on a motorcycle, Roma won the car class of competition by five minutes and 38 seconds over MINI teammate Stephane Peterhansel.
“I don’t know if this was the most stressful thing I’d ever done, but it was very tough,” Roma said after taking the victory. “The second week, with difficult, long stages, wasn’t easy. We’re happy, very happy with the work Michel [Périn] and I did. I’m going to revel in this. 10 years to the day after winning on a motorcycle, I’ve won in a car. It’s a dream come true.”
Roma took his first lead of the event after winning the third of 13 stages, and remained in the top three overall for the remainder of the two-week expedition. Despite losing the overall lead to Peterhansel after the race’s penultimate stage, Roma made up over six minutes to regain the top spot.
Two other Global Rallycross competitors entered the grueling event but were unable to finish. Both Carlos Sainz, who joined Marklund Motorsport at X Games Barcelona, and Guiga Spinelli, who joined X Team Racing in Barcelona and Munich, withdrew from the event in stage 10. Sainz took two stage victories before his withdrawal, while Spinelli spent much of the event fighting for a top-10 placement.
Image via Dakar Rally