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Spanish driver Nani Roma won the Dakar Rally yesterday, 10 years after he clinched the motorcycle title in the gruelling event.
Roma, 42, overturned a 26-second overnight deficit on his Mini teammate and 11-time champion Stephane Peterhansel to take victory.
South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) won the stage, the 13th and final one of the race over 157km from La Serena to Valparaiso, with Roma in fourth place behind fellow Mini drivers Krzysztof Holowczyc and Vladimir Vasilyev.
Roma becomes just the third man to win the Dakar title on two and four wheels after Peterhansel and Hubert Auriol.
His win came after a controversial two days when Mini insisted on team orders which would have seen Roma, Peterhansel and 2011 champion Nasser al-Attiyah complete a podium lockout for the manufacturers. But Friday saw Roma suffer a puncture, allowing Peterhansel to retake the overall lead.
It was unclear in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s conclusion whether or not the Mini drivers had received new instructions.
Peterhansel, six times a champion on two wheels and five times on four, was 13th on Saturday and took second place overall, 5min 38sec behind his teammate.
Al-Attiyah, meanwhile, was left to rue the one-hour penalty he collected for missing waypoints on the 10th stage as he finished 56min 52sec behind Roma and in third overall.
“I don’t know if this is the greatest stress I have experienced, but it was very tough,” said Roma.
Spain’s Marc Coma, riding for the KTM team, won the motorcycle title for the fourth time.
The 13th and final stage was won by France’s Cyril Despres, the defending champion, on a Yamaha with Spain’s Joan Barreda (Honda) in second and another French rider Olivier Pain (Yamaha) in third. “This represents a lot of sacrifices,” said 37-year-old Coma.
“Every time I have won this rally, I have said I will savour the moment as I don’t know if I am going to win again.”
In the Quads category, Qatar’s Mohamed Issa Abu Issa finished in fourth place. Before the start of the rally Abu Issa had said: “I just hope to finish this Dakar, with the goal to one day win it.” But with this fourth place finish he has done more than finish. This will give him enough confidence and experience for next time he takes part.