Dakar Rally: Nani Roma regains lead from Stephane Peterhansel to take overall victory
Nani Roma claimed Dakar Rally victory after overturning his narrow deficit to Stephane Peterhansel on the final stage.
Last Updated: 18/01/14 8:14pm
The Spaniard went into Sunday's 157km run from La Serena to Valparaiso in Chile with a 26 -second deficit to his Monster Energy x-Raid Mini team-mate, but he turned that into a lead of 5 minutes 38 seconds by the end of the day.
Roma, who won the bike class 10 years ago, finished fourth on the stage while Peterhansel, winner of six bike titles and five car crowns, could only manage a lowly 13th place. The stage was won by Giniel de Villiers of South Africa.
Confusion has reigned over the race situation in recent days, with Peterhansel stating he had been instructed to hold station behind Roma before retaking the lead after a Roma puncture on stage 12.
In the end Mini did manage to achieve the podium sweep they craved, with Nasser Al-Attiyah taking third overall behind Roma and Peterhansel.
"I always had it in my head that I wanted to win in a car after winning the motorcycles," Roma said.
"I don't know if this is the greatest stress I have experienced, but it was very tough.
"The second week, with hard, long stages wasn't easy. But 10 years after winning on a motorcycle also on January 18, I have won in the cars. It's a dream come true."
In the bike category, Marc Coma completed his fourth overall victory after staying out of trouble on the final stage. Jordi Viladoms was second overall, almost two hours behind.
