Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) driver Nani Roma secured fifth place overall.
The 43rd edition of the Dakar Rally was BRX’s debut, with Roma’s result the best performance by any new team on its maiden Dakar.
Roma, competing in his 25th Dakar, completed the final stage in 11th place clocking 02:27:21, +9:48 behind the leader. This was enough to claim fifth place overall, holding his lead over sixth place Shaikh Khalid Al Qassimi of Abu Dhabi Racing by +6:43.
Roma set out from Yanbu bound for Jeddah for stage 12. Just 447km separated the remaining competitors from the finish line, made up of 245km of road and 202km special stage.
The final day of driving was brought to a close with a slightly shortened stage, with the competitive section reduced by 18km.
“We have secured fifth position overall and have shown we have built a really strong car, with a lot of potential,” said Roma, who drove the #311 Hunter.
“We are just at the beginning of our journey. We have done an incredible job, even more so in the current Covid situation. There have been a lot of challenges over the past few months, but the team have continued to believe the whole time.
“Now it is time to analyse everything and come back even stronger next year. Alex and I are really happy, and we just want to say a big thank you to the whole team – all of the mechanics and everyone else working behind the scenes to get us here to the finish line.”
BRX director David Richards said: “We wouldn’t normally celebrate a fifth place, but this one is special. No new team has ever come to Dakar and achieved such a high result on their first attempt.”