Interview, biography and sports career of Repsol driver. With one year of experience at the wheel of the Mitsubishi Montero Evolution, faces the 2006 Lisbon Dakar with higher ambitions  Machines, team personnel and drivers of the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team are ready for the 2006 Lisbon Dakar Rally. One of its spearheads, Nani Roma, is already immersed in the countdown and fully concentrated to face his eleventh participation. Sixteen days of competition, more than 9,000 kms in eight different countries, 747 participating vehicles and 40 countries represented, have turned the 28th edition of the most famous rally of the world into a real record-breaking event. With all homework done and less than one month left for the start of the hardest rally of the world, Nani Roma tells us about his feelings and hopes for what will be his second season in the car class. Unlike last year's Dakar, where he arrived after covering only 500 kms at the wheel, but managed to arrive at Lake Rose in a meritorious sixth position, the Repsol driver faces this edition after covering more than 12,000 test kms and with an ambitious aim in mind: getting on the podium. But his eleventh Dakar will also be special due to other reasons, because his wife Rosa will also be taking part this time, in the motorbike class.

There is less than one month left for the start. Which are your plans for these days? Which will be the last tests before the start?"We will basically finish preparing smaller details, although a bit of fun is never wrong. We made an amusing co-drive with some journalists today. It's been a fantastic meeting and we were able to use the Mitsubishi I used to win the Baja Aragón and to race the last Dakar. Tomorrow I'll be in France to test the material we're going to use at the Dakar and then the whole team is going to the French Bretagne to do the last physical training. We'll be there until December 16, training and also relaxing a bit. What we do these days, rather than looking for a good shape for the Dakar is to make a good team job, in order to increase confidence and get closer. We will return to Point-de-Vaux, the team's base in France, on December 17, where we'll do the shakedown with the car we're using for the race; it will be the last test before the start."

Any holidays?"Not now. Now we have to think about the Dakar, something I've been preparing for the whole year. I'll obviously spend Christmas with my family, but those are days where you are somehow there but not really. I actually cannot disconnect completely and I'm almost always thinking about the race and not that much about the family."

At this stage, the car's preparation and development are finished. What's the difference compared to the car you used last year?"Last year I used the 2004 version, the MPR10, and my team-mates used the MPR11, but this year we're all going to use the MPR12, i.e. the 2006 version. It has been a jump over two evolution stages for me so the difference as regards behaviour and weights has been more significant to me than to my team-mates. It has improved a lot. The weights and the centre of gravity are much lower and the suspensions have improved a lot as well."

What are the effects of the new regulations?"Before, the air admission system of the engine was variable and this year the regulations forces it to be fix. The engineers have done a great job and the engine is still having a great performance. I'd say that with the new regulations, we have more torque and power than last year. As regards suspensions, we already had a flange limitation of 32 mm, so there have not been many changes there. I'm very optimistic because we have a great car and all of us can do a great job."

Last year, your big handicaps were the lack of experience, your limited position inside the car and driving on dunes. How have you evolved in all of these aspects?"I've improved a lot in all of them with no doubt. As regards experience, last year I arrived at the Dakar rally having covered only 500 kms with the Mitsubishi, but this year we've made more than 12,000 kms of tests on all kinds of surfaces. I've also improved technically, although I still got a lot to learn. My position inside the car is another improvement; last year I had a really bad time; the seat was much too small. It was really hard because I spent several stages with pain in my back and my legs. This year, Mitsubishi have prepared a special seat for me, larger, and I fit much better into the car. We made a very good test in Dubai on dunes, where I managed to improve my driving style. We had very complicated dunes, but I took them quite well and took away some of the stress I have when driving on that kind of surface. You can always fail, because it is the most complicated surface we are going to face, but now I feel much more confident. The most positive aspect is that I've been learning a lot this year, progressing really quickly and well, without making any mistakes."

Which are the strong and the weak sides of this year's Nani Roma?"The strong side is that I know the terrain very well, I know Africa. The nine years I raced on the motorbike gave me a large experience. The weak sides are still the same, the lack of more technique at the wheel. I still have to learn but the large motivation I have makes up for those lacks."

Last year's result was very positive and this season you already took your first victory at the Baja Aragón. Which are Nani Roma's aims for the 2006 Dakar?"I always set myself difficult aims and this year couldn't be less. I know that it's ambitious, but my aim is to get on the podium. I'll take the start with that aim and that will keep me focussed. Last year, since I had no clear aim, it was more complicated to race. I reached the finish with a certain feeling of frustration, but that's what I had to do. It was my first year and I had to cover kilometres and to learn. A lot of people had put their trust in me and I didn't want to disappoint them staying out. It was very positive and I'm very happy with what I managed to do, so this year I want more. This doesn't mean that I'm going to put my foot down every day because it's a long and complicated race. I'll race as I've been doing so far, but I'll go for my aim. If we do our job right, the results will come."

You are in the best car team and with the best drivers. This will not only have advantages, also some inconveniences, won't it?"The only inconvenience I've found is that many people, just for the fact of having a car like mine, demands results. But somehow it is only natural. However, neither the team nor Repsol have put any pressure on me, on the contrary, they have always been giving me a lot of confidence and all the calm of the world. It is difficult for me to find any inconvenience in the fact of being a member of the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team. Having team-mates such as Stéphane, Luc and Hiroshi is a big luck. They are the best and I'm learning a lot with them, so I'm trying to make to most of this luck. It might become an inconvenience in the future, but always in brackets, because we all know where we are and what we want."

A bet for this year..."I have never won a bet in my whole life so I better keep quite. I'd say that Mitsubishi is going to win in the car class, but it's going to be a hard fight against the Volkswagen, they have also been showing themselves highly competitive. The Dakar will be really open. Jean Louis Schlesser with the buggy and the new regulations does also have possibilities to do a good job, the BMWs... In the motorbike class the winner will surely be a KTM."

Do you believe in luck? Have you got any amulet?"I don't believe in luck, but I have some amulets. But it has rather something to do with superstition, because I think that it's a sweet gesture when people think about you and give you things to take with you during the races that will give you good luck. Since last year, I always race with a ribbon of Our Lady of El Pilar from Zaragoza tied up at the car's door and a watch that a brand gave me to give me luck."

If you would win the Dakar you would........."..do nothing special. I already won the Dakar two years ago on a motorbike and I didn't change anything in my life nor did I do anything special. Winning the Dakar was a dream and now it is an aim. Once you make it you feel that you've reached the aim you had in mind and there's nothing else you need to do."

How do you feel about your wife racing the Rally?"I didn't feel well when she told me, but now I'm feeling better. It was complicated at the beginning because I was afraid of her being alone in the desert; I know how dangerous it is and how bad it feels. But now, with the project she has prepared and how she has organised everything, I feel much better. She has got a mechanic that will built her bike and a backpacker who will always be with her, so every time I overtake her I'll see her with somebody. Moreover, Rosa has got a lot of experience and she's a responsible person who knows really well where her limits are and she won't take any further risks. It is a dream she's had for many years and now she'll be able to make it come true. I'm very happy for her."

Rosa was already a biker before the two of you met and I've heard that she rides really well. Do you think she is ready for the Dakar?"She's always been very good on the motorbike, but now she's highly motivated and she has prepared herself thoroughly. Women are women and when something gets into their minds they go for all. She has been training a lot and well, and she has evolved, but the Dakar is the Dakar. She knows it and she knows that there are going to be very hard, difficult, long stages, and that she'll be driving several hours at night... and she has prepared herself mentally a lot. I'd really be happy if she could reach Dakar, but the main thing is that she doesn't get hurt. She is capable to do it, but she has to know that the race also decides."

It's the hardest race of the world; do you think that her participation may affect your performance?"No, because I usually focus on the race and forget about the rest. I'd say that I'm probably much too focussed on the race. Moreover, as I already told you, her project makes me feel relaxed, so I don't think that my performance will be affected by that at any time."

Christmas days at your home have always been something special, because you haven't been able to celebrate New Year 's Eve at home, as the rest of the families. What do your daughters think about the fact that you will both be away this year? Any special plan for New Year's Eve?"We will spend Christmas together, and at home we have always celebrated Christmas Eve rather than Epiphany, which is also celebrated in Spain, so there won't be much of a change. But New Year's Eve will be special. First we thought about the possibility of bringing the girls to Lisbon with their grandparents, but we'll already be racing on December 31 and we'll start very early on January 1, so we wouldn't be able to spend much time with them. We finally decided that it's better if they stay home with the rest of the family. I guess it will be strange for them, but they are already used to it. Abril, the eldest is already eight years old and a very independent girl, already used to it. Julia is very young and although she will feel strange, she will also get used to it. It's only fifteen days and then, they will be able to enjoy their parents much more than other children."

Considering the genes they have, one of them must be a biker... "Abril doesn't like motorbikes at all, maybe because she connects it with the fact of her parents being away and therefore she somehow rejects its. Who knows if she will start liking it in the future? Julia however likes them. When she hears or sees motorbikes she smiles and she enjoys sitting on them and watching how she opens the throttle. I o think that she is the biker." Biography and sports career Date of birth: February 17, 1972Place of birth: Folgeroles, BarcelonaPlace of residence: Folgeroles, Barcelona Career highlights

1991: Runner-Up Spanish 125cc Junior Enduro Championship1992: 5th European 125 cc Senior Enduro Championship1993: 4th Spanish Senior Enduro ChampionshipBronze medal at the ISDE1994: European Senior Enduro CHAMPIONGold medal at the ISDE4th Spanish Senior Enduro Championship1995: 2nd Spanish 4T Enduro ChampionshipBronze medal at the ISDE1996: 3rd Spanish 4T Enduro Championship2nd overall 4T Enduro World Championship1997: Spanish Enduro CHAMPIONSpanish Raid CHAMPION1st participation in the Rally Dakar-Dakar (2 stage victories)1998: Participation in the Paris-Granada-Dakar (1st qualified half of the rally) 1999: Gold medal ISDE2nd Egypt Raid 2nd Dubai RallyWinner Baja España Aragón and Baja Italia2000: Winner of 4 stages at the DakarBronze medal at the ISDE2001: Winner of 3 stages at the Dakar Bronze medal at the ISDE2nd Baja España Aragón2002: Winner of 1 stage at the DakarWinner of the Rally Tunisia (KTM 950 Rally)Winner Baja España Aragón2003: Winner of 1 stage at the Dakar2nd Baja España Aragón3rd FIM Cross-Country Rallies Cup3rd Rally Tunisia3rd Rally MoroccoWinner of the Rally of EgyptWinner of the Rally Sardinia2004: Winner of the Dakar2nd Rally Sardinia2005: 6th overall in the Dakar (Mitsubishi Montero Evolution)4th overall in the Rally Patagonia-Atacama4th overall in the Morocco Rally1st overall in the Baja España Aragón

The passion for competition and an almost indestructible will mark the character of a singular rider. Joan Roma, Nani for his friends, was born in Vic on February 17, 1972 and after a short visit on soccer grounds, where an impressive goalkeeper was lost, he discovered his love for motorbikes. He entered his first race forging a friend's license, a very common sin among great champions. He won that race and since then he has recorded impressive results, although there was something missing on that list: the jewel of the crown, winning the Dakar, something he finally managed to do in 2004. Roma has taken a place in the heart of many fans. He took over from Jordi Arcarons and the Dakar wouldn't be the same without him. With the passage of years, dash gives way to experience and after participating in seven editions of the Dakar in the motorbike class and one in the car class in 2005, Roma and will be facing the challenge anew at the wheel of a Mitsubishi.

Joan Roma is married and has two daughters. He achieved his first success in competition at the Spanish 125cc Junior Enduro Championship in 1991. His aggressiveness and physical condition didn't go unnoticed. From the very start, he began to gather honour positions at Enduro trophies and at his participations in the Six Days. From the first medal he got in 1993 until the first title, the European Senior championship, Roma began establishing himself as one of the most outstanding riders in the class and with the African competitions becoming more and more popular, it was clear that he soon would reach the raids.

It finally happened in 1996. He took part in his first Dakar, and despite not knowing anything about such a peculiar race, he clinched two stage victories, a real deed considering the level of his fellow riders. His way to become known at the African raids was certainly spectacular, after achieving brilliant results at Enduro national and world championships.

Fate was decided and from that moment on, Roma did not stop participating in high-level Enduro races, although African raids marked his sports career. He repeated his excellent performance in 1998, leading the race halfway the rally, though he didn't manage to finish. However he did not stop gathering extraordinary results such as a gold medal at the Six Days Enduro or second positions at the Egypt and Dubai Raids, and victories at the Baja de España and Italy.

2000 was the year of his international recognition. He finished the Dakar in seventeenth position, far behind the lead but he did it as a true moral winner, a fact that was publicly recognised by one of his biggest admirers, Hubert Auriol, Clerk of the course. Nani had won four stages of the race and he was leading it alone, having the victory in his hands. However the engine of his bike broke down, two days before the end of the race, after having crossed the whole African continent. It was a cruel deception and that victory could have certainly meant a total change in his sports career.

From that moment on, Joan Roma clearly focussed his career on the most important races of the raid season, the most selected races of the Enduro championship and obviously the Dakar that had turned into the biggest objective of his sports career. It gave him trouble, again and again, but he had already proven that he was one of the most outstanding riders of the international off-road scene.

He had fairly taken over from Arcarons and his aggressive style was joined by an overwhelming personality, not quite usual for a rider. Roma had become a dear rider, always accessible and ready to share his experience with fellow riders, such as Isidre Esteve and young Marc Coma, who with the time would become inseparable mates in the fight for the first great victory in Africa.

A victory that had truly resisted itself since the big deception in 2000, when Nani had to spend a whole night in the desert waiting for the assistance truck. His aim was to reach Dakar no matter how, and it wasn't possible; neither in 2001, 2002 nor in 2003. Several crashes and accidents hindered Joan from achieving his great aim, sporting misfortunes that due to television have been experienced almost live by the whole world, giving his sports career an almost epic dimension. His fight against the desert has been suffered by several thousands of fans.

However, the fact of not having been able to win the Dakar did not represent a spot on a really brilliant sports career: victories at the Rally Tunisia 2002 and the Baja Aragón, together with sporadic participations in some of the most outstanding races of the Spanish Enduro Championship.

In 2003 he almost clinched the victory as well. He was fighting against Fabrizio Meoni and a crash, fracture included, took him to hospital. Nothing serious but he was out of the race. From then on, Nani prepared himself thoroughly to recover and it is only fair to acknowledge that after that the successful results came one after the other: runner-up at the Baja Aragón, third place at the FIM Cross-Country Rallys Cup, third place at the Rally Tunisia, third place at the Morocco Rally and victories in Sardinia and Egypt.With this record and these credentials, Joan Roma was one of the great and unquestionable favourites to clinch the victory of the 26th edition of the Dakar. He had prepared himself more intensively than ever and he arrived in France in a perfect shape. He also had a bike he knew perfectly well and he had two extraordinary team-mates, Esteve and Coma. He had enough guarantees, but the most complicated part was yet to come: the race as such and overcoming the bad luck that had followed him so many times. And he did it. On January 18, 2004 and after an excellent team work, Nani reached Dakar as the winner. He had taken the lead from the eighth day and had nothing but consolidated it since then. This victory marked a milestone in the history of Spanish motorcycling because it was the first win of a Spanish rider in the 26 years history of the legendary race.

The 2004 season had started very well for Joan Roma, but after his victory at the Dakar he injured his right knee during a training session and couldn't take part in the first round of the Raid World Championship staged in Tunisia. He carefully took the start of the Morocco raid but had to retire in the second stage due to the reappearance of his injury. His foot hit a stone making his knee joint turn. As part of his recovery process and with an eye on preparing the Baja Aragón, where he suffered and impressive crash on the first day, Nani entered the Sardinia Rally and finished second. But these adverse results were not the reason why he took the decision to enter the Dakar in the car class. He had already taken the decision at the end of the 2004 edition, after taking the longed-for victory on a motorbike. But the initial idea had been set aside by the thought of taking more victories on two wheels. In June, however, he had the chance to test a high-level car and realised that he was able to be fully competitive.

Nani Roma debuted in the Barcelona-Dakar as an official driver of Mitsubishi, making-up the official team with Stéphane Peterhansel, winner of the 2004 Dakar, Hiroshi Masuoka, winner of the 2003 Dakar, Luc Alphand and Andrea Mayer. He drove an official MMSP Mitsubishi Montero Evo, the best car of the speciality and winner of nine editions of the Dakar, the latest four consecutively. It was obvious that Roma was facing a big challenge, but the Repsol rider always stood up in the face of big challenges and tough times. Knowing that he was going back to Africa to learn how to race from a different perspective, he always said that this was going to be a training year, although his look couldn't hide his will to do a good job, while looking at the podium out of the corner of his eye. Arriving in Dakar and contributing to the final victory of the team were the objectives, and he not only arrived, but also in sixth place, having contributes to the victory and second place of his team-mates Peterhansel and Alphand. Roma surprised those who trusted in him and those who didn't. After a discreet start where he began getting used both to the car and to the race from the seat of his car, Nani made an impressive second part of the race. Fourth and fifth in the last stages, Roma proved to be a promise in his new class.

Nani Roma continued adapting to the four wheels in 2005 and thanks to the support of Mitsubishi and Repsol, he took part in three rounds of the World Championship and the Baja España Aragón together with his team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel. Nani kept on learning, covering kilometres, thus achieving two fourth places in Argentina and Morocco, where he took the victory of the sixth and seventh special. And then came the longed-for victory on four wheels, and he did it within the matchless frame of the Baja Aragón. His hard work and patience were finally rewarded with a victory, and he finished ahead of his team-mate Peterhansel. He kept on working hard so the result would not be unique, but a food poisoning on the first day of the UAE Desert Challenge hindered him from being at a 100% in the last big test before the start of the Dakar 2006. Despite the seriousness of the illness, Roma took the start of all legs, although he was forced to retire in two of them, but he took the chance to keep on covering kilometres on such a valuable test surface as the one in Dubai.

With a great progression this season, Nani Roma faces his second participation in the Dakar at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Montero Evolution with the will to learn, to help his team-mates, to reach the finish in Lake Rose and, why not, take the victory in some stage. Step by step, this tireless worker has been achieving his aim, so this year shouldn't be different.