“I’ll race to defend my title”
Crew facts
- Over the years, Emanuel Gyenes has consistently been one of the top performing privateers in the bike class. The Romanian enduro specialist, first appeared on the Dakar back in 2007 when it was still in Africa.
- From an initial 46th spot on his debut he managed a career high 14th position in 2016 and has claimed the Marathon class twice.
- Since 2019 he has raced in the Original by Motul class for riders without assistance, winning the category in 2020 on the first Saudi Arabian edition.
- Despite a lingering injury he was back again in 2021 fighting for the victory all the way to the end but finally finishing second to category newcomer Arunas Gelazninkas.
- Back in the Malle Moto in 2025 after being excluded from the rankings in 2024 because of his historically strong results, ‘Mani’ put all his experience, talent and laser-like focus into winning the prestigious category for a second time.
- In 2025 Gynes also competed in his other annual outing – the Red Bull Romaniacs and maintained his record of being the only man to have completed every edition – 22 in all!
Ambition
E.G:“In addition to the Dakar I also raced in the Rallye du Maroc this year in mid-October. But rather than racing unassisted I took a spot with BAS World KTM Racing team. And it was a real eye opener. The bike I rented from them was very nicely prepared, especially the suspension and having someone else working on my bike was pure luxury. In fact it was such a good experience that for a while I seriously considered entering the 2026 Dakar with them. In the end though, after much deliberation, I have decided to return to the Original by Motul category that has brought me such notoriety. Realistically, even with BAS’s excellent support, the best I could probably manage overall would be around 15th, just behind the factory riders, whereas fighting for the Original by Motul win again will be a much more intense experience. In 2025 I had a battle royal with another Malle Moto regular, Benji Melot that had the whole of Romania on the edge of their seats. I knew that I needed to build up as much of a lead as possible over the first week, where the terrain suited me better, if I was to have a chance of taking the win. By the time we got to the last stage that lead was down to minus 1 minute and I was not at all confident of being able to take back the time. In the end I won the category by just over 3 minutes. Such as hard fought but fair fight made the victory very special and it seems only right to defend my title.”
