Nani Roma’s adaptation to the BMW X3 CC continues to grow as he clocks up kilometres. The Repsol driver has demonstrated, once again, in the two legs to a 143 kilometre special held today, excellent pace behind the wheel of his new car. However, both punctures, in the first and second special of the day, prevented him from winning the stage, finishing fourth, 1 minute and 55 seconds behind Filipe Campos.
His debut in the German car yesterday left him with a bitter sweet taste, as victory in the preliminary stage was overshadowed by an electrical problem in the special held in the afternoon. When he was leading the race, he had to drop out at fifty kilometres from the finish line, although the organisation allowed him to take part in the second stage. Penalised 44 hours, Roma started sixth and was able to continue adapting to the BMW X3 CC, which he will drive in the forthcoming Dakar.
The stage was held on unruly dirt tracks, where just a few kilometres from the start, one of the tyres punctured and forced the Repsol driver to change it, finishing 2 minutes and 3 seconds behind Filipe Campos. Roma is working with BFGoodrich, the tyre supplier, on developing new tyres; and the same problem occurred again 4 kilometres from the end of the second leg to the special. He reached the end without stopping again, but at a slower pace and finished second, 22 seconds behind Guerlain Chicherit.
Nani Roma
“It has been complicated, because the car is going very well, I am adapting without any problems, and I feel strong to set a good pace; but this morning I had to change the tyre very early, and in the second special I had to change it again just four kilometres from the end. We have a very good pace to fight for victory, but the races are won by those who arrive first on the last day, and yesterday, even though we were very fast, we could not finish. I am enjoying this race a lot, which for us is mainly an adaptation test, to learn to handle the new car and the sensations are really good.”
