Nani Roma, the Dakar legend, returns: “The world seems to stop when the doctor looks you in the eyes and tells you you have cancer”

Smile. Very. She greets, she holds out her hand, she dedicates the necessary attention to each interlocutor who passes through the Al-Ula camp. It doesn’t go unnoticed. At 1.90m tall, he attracts attention, but even more so for what his name means in the world of the Dakar. The Spanish Giovanna Roma (50)popularly known as dwarfshe is the historic Spanish rider, who was able to win the extreme adventure already in 2004 on a motorbike, when the great competition crossed the deserts of Africa.

Ten years later, already in South America, and a good part of the journey in Argentina (“Country that I love and miss enormously”confesses) won in a car, with the X-Raid team, on board one Mini.

He is one of the few drivers to have so much experience in the Dakar, since he started the tough competition in 1996. However, for the first time in 2023 Nani Roma was not part of the group or the competition. It wasn’t due to budget issues or lack of vehicles.

“The world seems to stop when the doctor looks you in the eye and tells you harshly that you have cancer,” says Roma very seriously, in front of the M-Sport team, which develops the Ford Ranger Pick Up, a long-term project at interior of the Dakar.

Bladder cancer was the diagnosis in 2022. “I was with my wife Rosa (she participated with him in the previous Dakar) and it seemed to me that the world was ending,” he recalls with anguish. She underwent chemotherapy sessions. They eventually removed his bladder and replaced it with a piece of intestine.

-Did you think this could end your life?

-This is what I asked the doctor. He told me it wouldn’t be easy, but that we would do it. Luckily we have excellent medical professionals in the world. So it was.

-The doctor was very clear with the diagnosis. What was your reaction to life?

-I am the son of elderly parents and at the same time I am the father of children. So I used different techniques before each one. One has a responsibility. If the environment is very worried it doesn’t help you much, but if it’s not so worried it’s another thing. That’s why I preferred to carry it almost alone. It was more of a protective attitude towards my family so that they could have the best time possible. And this in turn helped me.

-You once said that the Dakar helped you deal with cancer. As?

-It is true. The Dakar helped me deal with cancer because when I was racing on a motorbike, I was basically very alone in the middle of the desert. This competition is very tough. Not just physically, but mentally. Solitude allows you to learn a lot about yourself. The head doesn’t stop for a second and in that extreme situation you become strong. And I also tried to tackle the Dakar alone like in those years as a motorcyclist in the African desert.

-When a sports idol goes through these situations, many people take it differently, especially those who suffer a similar ordeal. What is the message for them?

-I simply tell you that you must not abandon anything. We must continue to fight, it is true that it is not easy, but we must not give up for anything in the world. I’ve always had a lot of confidence. Nowadays, medicine has made great strides in curing different types of cancer. We have to move forward. It suffers, of course, but it is always possible.

-And now back to the Dakar, but this time with a Ford.

-I’m really happy. The project is very interesting and we have many expectations.

-Are there any differences in the race between your last Dakar and this return?

-This preview is different. First we were in the hotel, now we have to stay in the camp. I am in favor of this situation because we gain hours of rest. The Dakar is a team race and now we are together permanently. The rest will be as always, it will be very tough.

-What can we know about this project with the Ranger?

-We work hard throughout the year. Halfway through the year we decided to put all our energy into the new vehicle we are designing. So with this Ford we will try to move forward as best we can. In Morocco it worked very well. This truck already worked well, we improved it, but in the European spring the brand new one will arrive, with many differences and much more modern.

Nani Roma doesn’t see himself as a candidate for this edition, but he doesn’t stop observing what’s happening in the category: “Nasser Al Attiyah is always a candidate, especially now that he has switched to the Hunter, which is a very competitive vehicle. Audi also has excellent drivers. We will have to see how the reliability of hybrid vehicles will work, which for now seem to be more delicate, even if the team is doing a lot of development. But this is only a reflection from the outside. We will know all this starting from Friday.”

Nani Roma thanked him for the ticket, asked him how things are going in Argentina, the flame-retardant diver settled down to start a photo session in his team’s bunker and in the handshake reiterated: “You can always do it, I don’t do I have to. loosen up. It’s always possible. I say it, Nani Roma.

Nasser Al Attiyah: “I am the Messi of the Dakar”

Nasser Al Attiyah’s fanaticism for Argentina is astonishing. An old connoisseur of our country, the Qatari driver, latest winner of the Dakar, uploads content with cumbia and Argentine music to his social reels.

Before the 2022 World Cup in his country, Al Attiyah claimed that Argentina would become world champions. He went to the stadium to support Lionel Scaloni’s team and celebrated the victory against France like any other Argentine.

Together with the Prodrive team, Nasser set up a tent in which he invited Clarín to discuss the Dakar which will start on Friday morning in AlUla. Beyond the analysis of the race that would allow him to achieve his sixth victory in the Dakar, the Qatari made a strong statement.

“I am the Messi of the Dakar”. Between smiles, Al Attiyah supported the sentence: “For the last five years Nasser has been the great dominator of the Dakar. “I think Nasser is the strongest, Nasser is Messi.” The facts support his claim. From 2019 to today, the Qatari driver has not dropped below second place in the Dakar: in 2019 he won in Peru, in 2020 and 2021 he finished second, and in the last two editions he achieved victory. Previously he had won in 2011, with Volkswagen, and in 2015, with Mini, in Argentina.