Two-time Dakar Rally winner Nani Roma believes M-Sport Ford has the chance to ‘change history’ by winning the event on the team’s first outing with its new Raptor T1+ machine.
Roma, who is one of only three competitors in history to have won the Dakar on both two wheels and four wheels, was the first driver to be signed by the British outfit in 2023 and has played a key role in developing the Raptor over the last 12 months.
Alongside team-mates, 2024 Dakar Rally winner Carlos Sainz, fellow Audi refugee Mattias Ekström and Challenger graduate Mitch Guthrie Jr, Roma and M-Sport have banked over 15,000km in testing, winning the Hungarian Baja and showing strong form in the Rallye du Maroc in October.
While Roma admits there are some concerns over reliability, given how new the car is, the experience within the team and raw pace of the Raptor means M-Sport has the chance to become the first new project to win the Dakar.
“We believe that we are competitive, and this is the most important part about this Dakar,” Roma told DirtFish.
“Sure, everyone looks at the victory and, of course, all four of us want to win but we know how hard it is to win the Dakar, especially in the first time.
“We always try to change the history of motorsport and we know in the history of cross-country, that nobody has won the Dakar as a completely new project, but we want to try and become that team that does it.
“The Dakar Rally is such a hard rally, and for sure the brand that has the most durability at the moment, is Toyota. After that, we can say Mini and then after that Dacia.
“The only car which is new from zero is our car, so I hope that we are as reliable as the others. We are motivated, we work only to win. Ford is an amazing brand; they are here to compete and win and I feel this Ford spirit to try and change the history of the sport.
“We have done everything possible so far to try and win, so let’s see.”
Of the brands competing in the Ultimate category for the Dakar Rally, Toyota appears the most settled in terms of upgrades, with the Evo version of the Hilux a ‘fine-tuning of the car rather than a revolution’ according to Gazoo Racing’s head of motorsport Bart Eelen, while X-raid’s Mini JCW Rally has been reinvented with a three-liter petrol engine. Like Ford’s Raptor, the Dacia Sandrider is also a built-from-the-ground-up car and enjoyed a largely trouble-free debut in Morocco to take a one-two with Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb.
M-Sport, on the other hand, elected to participate in the Experimental class in Morocco as it continued its fast-tracked testing program in race conditions.
For Roma, it’s about preparing the car and team properly for the big event in Saudi Arabia.
“The most important thing is to be competitive; we feel that we have a competitive car,” said Roma.
“The experience that Carlos has had in the last years with Audi, this means that for me, it’s a good comparison because Carlos has come from the winning car last year, and he feels comfortable in the car already, so this is a good thing.
“For sure, the car is completely different to the last one I drove [Prodrive Hunter] and so my approach had to change a lot, but Carlos is happy with the car. We’re optimistic about that, but we are a bit worried about some little things, but that is always the case with a new car.”
“We have prepared well,” Roma added. “A few months ago, I told the engineers and Matt Wilson [team principal] that we must be ready from the shakedown, so that when the cars arrive in Saudi, we don’t have to do any work on the car.
“Sometimes when you get to the Dakar, you still need to finish the car or some things are late, but with the 48-hour stage on day two, you cannot afford to be like that.
“But the shakedown the week before the cars left from England was good, all four cars are ready. You just need to put petrol in them and do a shakedown in Saudi and they are good to go for the Prologue.
“If, in the end, something happens and we don’t win it, then it’s important for us to have no regrets.”
