Twice Dakar Rally winner Nani Roma took a hiatus from racing in March after being diagnosed with bladder cancer, but his treatment has appeared to be taking positive steps. In a recent interview with Catalan TV3 news programme Els matins, he revealed improving conditions have gradually opened the door towards returning to the driver’s seat. While a timetable for his comeback is not set in stone, he expressed hope of testing again in September ahead of potentially racing the Rallye du Maroc a month later and the 2023 Dakar Rally.
Roma won the 2004 Rally in the Bikes category on his ninth try before switching to the Cars the following year. He won that division in 2014 to become one of just three drivers who have won the overall on both two and four wheels, joining fourteen-time champion Stéphane Peterhansel and thrice victor Hubert Auriol. Also among his Dakar achievements are seventeen career stage wins on a bike and thirteen in a car.
The 2022 edition was his second with Bahrain Raid Xtreme Prodrive. However, Roma’s hopes of vying for the overall win or a podium were disrupted when he suffered a barrel roll in the fourth stage. Despite recovering with a fourth-place class finish in the penultimate leg, the Stage #4 retirement meant he could only place fifty-second overall.
Two months after the Rally, Roma announced he would step back as to begin his cancer fight, which would have prevented him from running at least the Andalucía Rally in June until it was postponed to mid-October and now takes place after the Rallye du Maroc. Andalucía serves as his home rally raid, taking place in his native Spain (albeit on the opposite side of the country).
“Everything has gone very well, but when you hear the word ‘tumour’ or ‘cancer’ you get some smoky moments,” Roma told Els matins. “[Doctors] told me it was serious but I would get over it, and problems with a solution are less problems. And from there, go head on: in life, things sell as they sell.
“I’ve been through chemo and the operations, and I’m recovering. I’m at that point of starting to do sports and feeling well because it’s been four months. I’ve never felt so bad for so long in my life. It’s the feeling of being bad all day. That feeling of being crushed, tired, the chemistry inside your body. Even in an elite athlete’s body, it’s a beast.”
He began chemotherapy on 31 March and had undergone surgery before finally being discharged from the hospital on 28 June. Since returning home, he has resumed more physical training such as cycling to get back in shape.
“It was a bit difficult for the doctor to understand, but I think it’s important to set goals and fight to reach them, and then we’ll see if we get there,” he commented. “I’ve taken it as a challenge, as if I was preparing for something. I tried to do like what I’ve done with the Dakar, preparing physically and technically with the mechanics and engineers.”
“At any moment, an accident makes you change your plans; for example, in a Dakar, I blew the engine when I was about to win. You go through moments that involve training so that when serious issues come up, you face them and there is no more remedy. When they tell you that you have cancer, you have to go ahead.”
Should his recovery go as planned, he would be in Morocco for September testing before entering the Rallye du Maroc scheduled for 1–10 October. The 2023 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia is planned for 31 December 2022 – 15 January 2023.
“Driving again will be exciting,” Roma continued. “Above all, to see how I feel inside the car. I’ve run twenty-six Dakars, I’ve been a professional driver for twenty-eight years, but I’ll give it a try, and I’m sure it’ll be fine. First I will see how my body reacts to the rally in Morocco, but the Dakar is my goal.”
