Laia Sanz, guardian angel of Nani Roma’s podium in Dakar: “It was stressful, but I’m glad I passed at that moment”

Lia Sanz Became the guardian angel of the podium Nani Roma. As fate would have it, the Catalan ran out of gas with seven kilometers to go before reaching the bivouac in Yanbu after a fight on stage 12, and was rushing to avoid arriving later than the stipulated time limit to avoid losing second and third place due to sanctions, when Raia passed him by.

Ebro’s official driver had no hesitation in slinging Nani’s car and towing it to ensure she and co-pilot Alex Haro arrived on time. After receiving a big hug from Nani Roma and expressing his eternal gratitude, the Catalan spoke to the Spanish press in the bivouac, including the MD. During that conversation, Raia asserted that she did not know how long it would take for Nani to reach the bivouac to maintain his second place position. dakar.

“When we arrived at the end of the stage, we saw that they had stopped a few Fords for repairs. We could see that something had happened to Nani’s car, but he just passed us. I was already imagining he was behind and at the controls.” “When he passed us a few kilometers from the camp, he immediately opened the door. And I could see he was nervous, and Alex got out of the car and asked us to give them a shot.”He explained.

“Nani opened the door and said, ‘Can you stretch?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and he said, ‘Faster, faster.’ And he knew he had to run fast, so we ran as fast as we could.” Said.

“I got there quickly because I knew what was at stake, so I tried to run as much as I could.” This transit section was difficult as I had to avoid cars, but in the end I’m glad I was able to arrive on time. ” he added.

“In the end, I was passing by at the time, so if it had been someone else, I’m sure someone else would have been towing it. But I’m glad I woke up just in time and arrived on time. ” Laia admitted that he had to avoid slower cars to accomplish his mission, but said he always drove as fast as possible within the rules of the road.

“It was about 6 or 7 kilometers away, and what happened nearby was… Punctuality is more stressfulOtherwise, I think in the end I would have to wait for someone to throw, but the problem was that I was in a hurry,” he said regarding the tension he experienced at the 7km, which was already in Yanbu.

I didn’t know how many minutes I had left.

I didn’t know it, but I knew where I was in the general classification, I imagined myself very close to control, I didn’t understand the situation exactly, but I had an idea, so we tried to run as far as we could. ”

20th place overall. happy?

“Yes, I think I signed it before the start. The car worked very well. After all, this is a new project. I think we did very well, but we were unlucky with the electrical problems. Otherwise, we would have been three or four positions ahead, and personally too. Of course I want to be further ahead and I think we can do that. I think we showed it at some stage. And obviously we need more time to get to know the car more and do more races, but I think the car has very good performance as well. “But at least I leave here with the desire to do well because I think we can go further. ”