Rally Dakar 2005

Five questions to Nani Roma
Theres one month left for the start. What are your feelings for the 2005 Dakar?The feelings are very good. Im starting a new stage in my sports career and Im very excited because Im in a great team, well surrounded, with people that help me and therefore Im in really high spirits. Im used to taking part in the Dakar on a motorbike. Ive done it all my life and the change is radical, with no doubt, but Im very satisfied and convinced about the step Ive made. In addition, the race will start in Barcelona and that is also something new. Im convinced that the atmosphere were going to find will be fantastic because fans from all over Spain will be able to get close to us. Its going to be one of the most beautiful things that have happened to me in many years.  How have you prepared the races and worked to adapt to driving a car?In the short time available since my inclusion in the Mitsubishi team was settled, Ive done everything possible to make as many kilometres as possible in the car and hours at the wheel. I even bought myself a cross kart to practice near home and gain agility in driving. With regard to the race car I havent been able to drive too much at the pace were going to race at the Dakar due to lack of time, but the tests in general have been very positive. I felt well although I have to learn many new things. My physical training has changed as well, I have to work harder on the cardiovascular aspect and adapt to the efforts of driving a car.  The approach is different. Will victory be your aim this year?Obviously not. Both Mitsubishi and Repsol want me to finish the race and do teamwork to the benefit of my team-mates. The first year in a car is very demanding and my big aim is to start every morning and reach the finish every afternoon with the car in the best possible condition. I have to get to know the Mitsubishi well and adapt to the driving technique. Fortunately all the team-members and my navigator Henry Magne, a very expert man, are going to help me a lot, something theyve already been doing during the tests. Our plan is to gather experience and kilometres, avoiding mistakes and helping my team-mates as much as possible to get the final victory.  You know the route. Can you say something about it? The 2005 Dakar is going to be very hard and complex because the rally will be decided more than ever in Mauritania. No Dakar is easy and you can have a problem even in the prologue stage, in the most unexpected place. From what Ive been able to see in the first information, were going to find ourselves surrounded by a lot of sand and well need a lot of navigation, and in certain stages well only have some geographical points as a reference for the start and the finish. The marathon stages will also be decisive and very hard. All in all its going to be a hard Dakar that will force all of us to drive with extreme caution. Experience will be vital.  Its been a complicated season for you. What would be your assessment?Its been a difficult season, filled with rather less habitual events. Difficult, because Ive been followed by injuries. I hurt my knee preparing the Rally of Tunisia and I was hardly able to ride in the big races although I took part in some enduro races on a good level. Later on, as the months went by, my change to the car class was settled, so finding a steering wheel became a matter of priority.