Two-time Dakar champion Nani Roma: “I’m a taxi driver and Alex Haro is my Google Maps”

Nani Roma and Alex Haro They already have extensive experience in the Dakar and the fame they have already achieved precedes them. The Forgerol giants are heading to their 29th Dakar, with Touareg winning bronze as two-wheel champion in 2004 and bronze medalist as four-wheel champion in 2014. This will be Òdena’s 12th participation, but he has competed in seven of the Dakar Rally, with his best final result being runner-up in 2019. Last year, he gave Ford Project its first partial victory at the 10th stage of the Dakar.

In the second year of the Ford Racing and M-Sport project, they will once again be part of an impressive line-up that includes Carlos Sainz, last year’s podium finisher Matthias Ekström, and Mitch Gasly. The Ford Raptor T1+ has been completely redesigned for final victory.

Completed 10,000 km of testing, Nani Roma It passed its technical verification this Thursday at a media day in Santa Susanna, Barcelona. “We’ve improved the car a lot, the bodywork has changed a lot, it’s better aerodynamically. The weight distribution has changed too, because we started with 500 liters and ended with 50 liters. It has to be stable throughout the stages, which is important for driving. We improved the suspension, the shock absorbers, we reduced the weight. The Fox ones are a big step forward in safety. They worked. Internally it’s going very well. ”

“Another important point is the windshield. It is made of plastic and has a low weight. Racing cars have to sit low in the middle and lose a lot of kilograms from the bottom. It may seem silly that the mirrors block a lot of visibility, but there are quite a few dead spots. Last year it always arrived without a windshield and you broke the windshield and the doors broke.The airflow is different, the gullwing style doors close much better and the new bonnet in the back is better.

Putting it like this, I lost 50 kg and my face changed a lot, so that’s it. Nani Roma “I don’t know if it will win, but there’s no arguing that it’s a gorgeously decorated and beautiful car, and the engine sounds terrible.”

The two-time champion recognizes that 2026 will be one of the best editions in the history of the car: “We are at the best moment in the history of the Dakar at the level of cars, drivers and teams. We have four official Fords, four Circias and four Toyotas. We’ve never been at this level of seven or eight cars. Sometimes the hardest thing is managing on the first day. We already know statistically there will be two or three cars racing at the end, but we have to do it. Once you’re there, you can’t leave. If you think about it, you have to maintain speed and wait for them to fall, which is why you have to be very calm, but you have to run. ”

“If you go in with a determination to win, you will make mistakes. We have a very good chance, but if we don’t achieve it, nothing will happen. The important thing is to fight for the goal, and when you give it your all, you can’t blame yourself even if you don’t win.”

He pointed out that in the Dakar, “the most difficult thing is to maintain the rhythm. In the morning we are not fast, but after that we get the rhythm back, are very stable and finish very well. For us, 800km is better than 400km because we understand the speed very well.”

It was a joke Nani Roma In Dakar, “I’m the taxi driver and he (Alex Haro) is my Google Maps.” Òdena officials outlined key elements of the 2026 route. “They are trying to create a balanced fortnight, but the separation of cars and bikes in the marathon does not help to move the route. The number of days for the marathon stages will have to be managed. There will be a very long stage of 400km, on a route with no open spaces, and the bar for demands will be significantly higher.”

“In the first week you will find a plain area with a canyon and a lot of navigation, in the second week the lower part will be more complicated, but first you need to concentrate on the first stage of the marathon.”Therefore, Nanoy said, “In the marathon you have to work well as a team and everything is complicated, so it is better to think about the prologue.” So the first one…for me Stages 13 and 14 will be key. And this year, after most of the cars from Stages 1-2 and 11 were stuck on Stage 2 in 2023, we can change wheels in the middle of the special and do the pit stops that we loved so much.”

for alex “The lesson of last year leading up to the breakdown is that we have been there. We have been together for many years and understand it well. Maybe we didn’t see the result in South Africa this year, but inside we were happy. In Morocco we saw that we have a great rhythm, the car is working and we have to take advantage of the fact that all the pieces of the puzzle are in place.”