Jan 18, Roma, 42, overturned a second overnight deficit to his Mini team mate and times champion Stephane Peterhansel to take victory. Giniel de Villiers in the South African built and run Toyota Hilux V8 won the stage, the 13th and final timed section, over km from La Serena to Valparaiso, to cement his fourth postion overall, with Roma fourth on the day behind fellow Mini drivers Krzysztof Holowczyc and Vladimir Vasilyev.
Roma became only the third man to win the Dakar title on both two and four wheels after Peterhansel and Hubert Auriol. BMW insisted on team orders which would have seen Roma, Peterhansel and champion Nasser Al-Attiyah complete a podium lockout for Mini - but Friday saw Roma suffer a puncture, allowing Peterhansel to retake the overall lead. It was unclear in the immediate aftermath of Saturday's conclusion whether or not the Mini drivers had received new instructions.
Peterhansel, six times a champion on two wheels and five times on four, was 13th on Saturday and took second place overall, 5min 38sec behind his team mate. Al-Attiyah, meanwhile, was left to rue the one-hour penalty he collected for missing waypoints on the 10th stage as he finished 56min 52sec behind Roma and third overall in another Mini. But 10 years after winning on a motorcycle also on January 18, I have won in the cars.
The third thing I want to say is that Nani's my friend, and I'm pleased to see him happy. Argentinian Lucio Alvarez in the sole remaining South African-built and run Team Ford Ranger who surely qualifies as an Honorary South African by now finished 23rd on the final timed section to retain his 22nd postion overall.
The Dakar specialist avoided any misfortune on the final leg to add the title to his wins in , and I'm over the moon with this result. Top South African rider Riaan van Niekerk KTM , consistently running just outside the top 10 throughout the second weeek, had a diastrous final day and was classified 75th, 49minutes behind the leaders, but retained his 12th position overall. The only other South African rider to finish, Brett Cummings Honda came in 35th on the tight and technical final stage and was classified 28th overall in his first Dakar Rally.
