Racing in her 7th Dakar, Rosa Romero Font is no stranger to the most demanding motorsport event in the world – but her connection to the event is far more than for most competitors.
The 48 year old from Barcelona is married to Mini X-Raid Team driver Nani Roma!
Nani won the Dakar on a motorcycle in 2004 and in cars in 2014, and has competed in the Dakar every year since 1996 – except for 2008 when the event was cancelled due to the threat of terrorism.
Rosa debuted in the Dakar in 2006 then took a 6 year break, returning in 2012. After another year off Rosa competed in 2014. Unfortunately she didn’t make the finish line in any of these attempts.
In 2015 Rosa completed the event in 52nd place, finished 67th (2nd female) in 2016 and 80th (2nd female) last year.
But despite Rosa and Nani competing in the Dakar so often, they had never competed together until they made a team in the 2 hours of Santa Eulàlia Riuprimer in 2016.
Success outside the Dakar
Since 2011 Rosa has shown her ability to not only finish gruelling events but to place well in them. In the last 2 years alone has claimed a number of significant finishes.
In 2016, Rosa finished:
- 9th (2nd female) Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge,
- 37th (1st female) Sardegna Rally,
- 36th (1st female) Baja Aragón, and
- 5th (1st female) Panáfrica Rally.
In 2017:
- 13th Hellas Rally (1st female),
- 19th Baja Aragón (2nd female), and
- 21st Panáfrica Rally (1st female).
Life beyond racing
Outside of racing Rosa has a very busy life. She is Telecommunications Technical Engineer, manages the Nani Roma Foundation and takes time, above all, for her three children Abril, Júlia and Marc.
She loves living in the countryside, and confesses that she could never live in the city.
Every day she goes out for a walk in the mountains, she is passionate about skiing and her house is a small farm with horses, dogs and cats.
She always wanted to make big trips on motorcycles, but it was only at the age of 18 that she bought her first trail bike, a Merlin Nómada 600.
Every year when she travels to the Dakar, Rosa takes an item from her children to keep them close to her. She still has the first drawings they made for her to take to the race.
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Preparation for the Dakar 2018
This year Rosa has done fewer races but she is satisfied with the results she has achieved.
She comes to the 2018 Dakar with a KTM EXC 450 Rally, a bike that is much more demanding than the one she competed on last year.
With this being the 40th edition of the Dakar, she suspects that the organisers will make it more complicated.
“I have never competed in Peru. It is the great unknown. But I’m mentalised for what I can find.”
“I know that the dunes there are soft and cut. The height of Bolivia also gives me respect. If it rains you spend the whole day wet and cold.”
“After the heat of Argentina and a complicated journey … it will be important not to make mistakes to reach the camp by day.”
“My goal and my fight will be to finish.”
ROSA ROMERO FONT – Himoinsa Racing Team
- Born 19/03/1969
- 1.71 m, 63 kg
- Mark : KTM
- Model : EXC 450
- Performance tuner :
- Assistance :
- Class : M_G2.2 : Marathon
Suzie decided that after profiling the three Aussie blokes – Toby Price, Rodney Faggotter and Scott Britnell – I had to write something about the 3 women competing in the motorcycle division as well.
Yesterday we profiled Laia Sanz, and tomorrow we’ll tell the story of 28 year old Dakar rookie Gabriela Novotna. Stay tuned!