Nani
Roma
Spain
·
Rally Raid
Date of birth | 17 February 1972 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Vic |
Age | 53 |
Nationality | Spain |
Career start | 1991 |
Disciplines | Rally Raid Car |
Born in the Catalan town of Vic – situated between metropolitan Barcelona and the wild spaces of the Pyrenees mountain - Joan 'Nani' Roma Cararach has enjoyed a rally career long and storied enough to genuinely lay claim to the term 'legend'.
He signed up for his first motorcycle race using a fake licence that he'd copied off a friend, won that first race and hasn't looked back since.
He entered his first Dakar back in 1996, riding for KTM, but it took him five attempts even to finish the gruelling event; albeit with a stage win to his name in both '98 and '99. The year 2000 saw him rack up four stage wins, his first finisher's medal and a place inside the top 20.
It was in 2004, following another three aborted attempts in the intervening years, that saw him finally attain that elusive crown as he took the overall win in the bikes category.
Following that victory, Roma switched from two to four wheels for each subsequent Dakar, racking up podium finishes in 2006, 2012 and 2019, and becoming one of just a handful of competitors to win outright on both two and four wheels when he took the title in 2014.
With over three decades of success behind him, it would be a bold decision to bet against Roma becoming the first person to win the Dakar on three continents as he and co-driver Alex Haro pit their Ford Raptor T1+ against the Dakar 2026.
Rally raid legend Nani Roma
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
His helmet says it – a two-time Dakar Rally champion
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Powering to a podium on home soil at the Baja Aragon
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Getting up close and personal with the wildlife in South Africa
© Tyrone Bradley/Red Bull Content Pool