Nani Roma: “I tried to slow down, but it’s difficult for me. I don’t know how to run. It’s not that I can’t win stages, but extreme conditions are difficult right now.”

Nani Roma, along with his co-pilot and Odena’s compass, Alex Haro, Ended very happy with the plan Ford executed. Stage 1 of Dakar 2026, This is a race where strategy is important for the ultimate victory. In this test, there are a lot of fast cars at the start, so winning the stage is not interesting. Because it means going out on the track the next day and being the first car, it means ditching the navigation car, which is synonymous with losses and possible problems, and a significant loss of time.

It seems contradictory that you can’t win a race. Even so many drivers slowed down during the second half of this Sunday’s special to avoid track opening issues on stage two. However, if there is a problem opening the course in the early stages with so many cars lined up evenly, it would mean a big loss. he talked about all this Nani Roma and M.D. (8th place) arriving at the bivouac in Yanbu after Stage 1in a controlled manner to minimize losses and at a position just 2 minutes and 37 inches from the head, in full “ointment”.

Does it mean you can’t win on stage? This newspaper asked the Folgerol driver.

“Well, it’s not that you can’t win, but extremes are difficult. One day it will be. But now there are a lot of fast people, so extremes are complicated. So there’s no such thing as ideal or perfect, but it’s good to try to deal with it in the best way.” Nani said. “Extreme” is understood as winning a stage or, on the contrary, giving up too much time. They need to find a balance and their number eight or Sainz’s number six is ​​very close to what they wanted.

“Do you think the strategy is perfect? ​​Yes. We had a good plan. In support, they told me where I was and told me to slow down a little.” I tried to slow down, but the reality is that slowing down is very difficult. It’s hard for me to figure out when to run or not to run, but in the end I decided to try throwing a little bit again. Then I got stuck in the dust from the Toyota car in front of me. But, in the end, Stage 2 turned out to be a good place, so I’m satisfied. We had a good competition,” said the Catalan.

“When I slow down, I lose concentration. It’s hard to do that. I don’t know what to do. To run or not to run, and slowing down was hard. And I said, ‘Shoot.’ It felt safer. And I caught the dust of the Toyota that I couldn’t pass.”concluded Nani, who is yet to claim victory as stage two is expected to be even more difficult on the stones, but he did congratulate himself on not having a flat tire.

“For now we feel comfortable, yes. But there will be a difficult stage tomorrow and we will see how to overcome it well. But today we competed very well.”he finished.