Emanuel Gyenes: There will be a difficult, sand-loaded Dakar Rally Raid

The Satu Mare motorcycle pilot Emanuel Gyenes, who will start the Dakar Raid Rally for the 12th time, is expecting a difficult race with many sand dunes in Saudi Arabia, as he said in a statement to AGERPRES.

"It's going to be a difficult Dakar considering there's going to be a lot of sand. Last year, in the dunes I wasted some time on the competitors I fought with at Malle Moto. I hope to have a better pace this year, also in the dunes. In 2022, we don't go so much in the northern part of the country, and that's good, because we're not going to be very cold in the connecting stages, that's where the worst area of the country is. Because we have so many loops, for us at Malle Moto it will be easier. I don't have to gather my tent every day and stuff, so I save a little time," Gyenes said.

Mani Gyenes also commented that the marathon stage will take place in the first part of the race, on January 5 (465 km of special tests): "It is a good thing for us that the marathon stage is at the beginning of the rally, when the motorcycle has not done many kilometers in competition mode and there are less chances to have technical problems."

Gyenes will compete in the Malle Moto class (Original by Motul), reserved for competitors who do not benefit from technical assistance. At the end of each day, when they arrive in the bivouac, they must prepare their own motorcycle for the next stage. The organizers carry for each rider a box in which they put a few spare parts and various accessories, a set of wheels, a tent, a travel bag and a set of tires. The participants are also provided with a generator, compressor, tool kit, sleeping bag, work mat, etc.

The Satu Mare pilot managed to impose himself in this category in 2020, and last year he finished second.

Besides Gyenes, Romania will have other representatives at the race in Saudi Arabia, two junior crews in the car class, Mihai Ban/ Catalin Ion and Iacob Buhai/Tudor Turdean. Dragos Buran, mechanic and co-driver, will also be present on a fast-assist truck.

"I really want to be all Romanians at the end, in Jeddah! And that's why I told them to try to go very carefully and not to let themselves be taken by the wave, not to look at the result in the rankings, because in the first participation the most important thing is to reach the finish," Gyenes stressed.

For the third consecutive time, the Dakar Raid Rally is being held in Saudi Arabia, where 12 stages are scheduled, with a total length of 8,098 in the motorcycle class and 8,119 in the car. The organizers chose a route that will take the competitors through all types of sand, 70 pct of the total surface of the special tests being made up of sand and dunes. There are special samples with many erg, rows of tens of kilometers of dunes and small dunes, broken dunes, areas with camel grass, fesh-fesh etc. One of the races will have 100 kilometers of dunes without any moment of respiro, a real day of surfing, as it was described.

On January 1, Gyenes will set off from Jeddah to Ha'il, where the festive start is scheduled, and will compete in the 19-kilometer prologue. It will set the order of the start in the first stage, on January 2nd - Ha'il loop.

Gyenes' best finish at the Dakar Rally in the overall standings was in 2016 (14th), with two other performances recorded being two victories in the Marathon class (2011, 2015) and another at Malle Moto (Original by Motul) in 2020. In 2021, Gyenes (KTM) took 23rd place overall and 2nd at Malle Moto.