Ford driver Nani Roma believes the Dakar Rally has reached a stage of competitiveness similar to Method 1, after ending second in a closely-fought 2026 occasion.
With Ford and Dacia each now established in cross-country rallying and Toyota introducing a brand-new Hilux, the extent of competitors in Dakar’s automobiles class rose a number of notches this 12 months.
5 totally different producers scored a minimum of one stage win, together with Mini and Century, whereas 10 drivers clinched particular person victories throughout the two-week marathon in Saudi Arabia.
The combat for victory remained open deep into the second week, and it was solely after the second marathon stage that Dacia’s Nasser Al-Attiyah emerged because the clear favorite.
The Qatari’s remaining profitable margin over Roma was slightly below 10 minutes, whereas Mattias Ekstrom completed simply quarter-hour off the highest spot regardless of shedding half an hour to navigation points on Stage 9.
Two-time Dakar winner Roma stated that after such an intensive fortnight of rallying in Saudi Arabia, the margins separating the entrance runners had been much like these seen in grand prix racing.
“Generally you get podium finishes in races which can be circumstantial. I received right here as a result of the automobiles in entrance began to interrupt down, however we had been all right here, neck-and-neck, just some minutes aside,” the Spaniard instructed media together with Motorsport.com .
#227 Ford M-Sport Ford: Nani Roma, Alex Haro Bravo
Picture by: A.S.O.
“For those who analyse the variations nicely after greater than 5,000 kilometers, I believe you get these sorts of variations in Method 1.
“I am pleased with the extent we have had with [co-driver] Alex [Haro]. In the long run, that is virtually extra necessary than the rostrum. The truth that I may be right here, be aggressive, be aggressive once more, really feel aggressive, and be tremendous comfortable for the workforce.”
Roma believes small particulars, relatively than outright tempo, determined the battle in Al-Attiyah’s favour.
“In the long run, you must be pleased with what you do, with the truth of it,” he stated. “He was somewhat quicker than us at totally different occasions. He did not beat us by being quicker, however due to small particulars that we weren’t expert sufficient to deal with, however the good factor is to compete within the races and face the difficulty head-on.”
Bittersweet Dakar for Sainz
Roma’s team-mate Carlos Sainz Sr ended the Dakar in fifth, round 28 minutes down on winner Al-Attiyah. Navigation issues, together with a 15-minute penalty for lacking a waypoint within the second marathon stage, value him a shot at a fifth profession win in Dakar.
Sainz had been working in second heading into Stage 10 the place he misplaced his means, underlining how expensive errors have turn into in fashionable Dakar.
#225 Ford M-Sport Ford: Carlos Sainz, Lucas Cruz
Picture by: Pink Bull Content material Pool
„My evaluation is a bit bittersweet,” he stated. “On the one hand, I am comfortable to have completed the Dakar. I believe we stored up a very good tempo, with none main issues with the automotive.
“However simply sooner or later was sufficient to wreck all our possibilities of victory. We could not do it. That day, we misplaced virtually 45 minutes, all our possibilities of victory. It is powerful, as a result of the remainder of the times went roughly nicely. I believe we may have fought for victory. We had been there, virtually main with Nani that day.”
The bikes class noticed a fair tighter combat, with KTM’s Luciano Benavides capitalising on a late error from Honda rival Ricky Brabec on the ultimate day to grab victory by simply two seconds.
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