“Smooth and mistake-free”
En bref
- A businessman, inventor, carpenter, author, and wearer of many more hats, Larry Janesky is also an avid driver who finally achieves his Dakar dreams with a maiden participation in the 2026 edition.
- The American entrepreneur was about to become a Dakarian in 2025 before a last minute withdrawal meant he had to wait for another year before taking on the challenges of the rally. He’s now ready to storm the desert alongside a staple such as Dennis Murphy.
- Although he’s a rookie in the Dakar, Janesky is quite experienced himself. He is the oldest finisher of the Baja 1000 on a motorcycle and has displayed his determination and talent with two and four wheel vehicles, especially leading memorable adventures alongside his son Tanner.
- Janesky shared his off roading exploits with a series of five movies named Into The Dust. A fitting name for a passionate carpenter who owns a home improvement company.
- An excellent navigator, Dennis Murphy is also precious as a technician and mechanic. Add the experience of five participations in the Dakar and you get a grasp of how handy it his to have him by your side on such a demanding rally.
- His skills and passion made Murphy a staple for Toyota and their South African stars, with participations alongside Shameer Variawa, Giniel De Villiers and Guy Botterill. He finished twice in the overall top 5 and took one stage win.
- After spending most of 2025 with Giniel de Villiers racing the South-African cross country championship, Murphy changes environment in the Dakar 2026 as he partners with the USA’s Larry Janesky aboard a Can-Am Maverick R to take on the SSV1 class.
Ambition
L.J.: “I am excited to just finish. Driving the car is not a problem for me. The dunes will be challenging but this year I am ready with the motion sickness patches and meclizine! I never experienced dunes before and last year I got sick on day one of dunes in Morocco. The second day I took meclizine and took the windshield out which made a big difference getting air flowing on my face and being cooler. I did great the second day in the dunes.
My strategy is to not race as fast as I can and risk breaking the car and being out, but to cruise to a finish every day. I want to be there to see the checkered flag on the last day!
I hope to be calm and comfortable and save personal energy each day and enjoy the ride. I know that doesn't sound like what a racer should say his strategy is, but for Dakar especially, I think it is the right strategy. I also do not want to get sick. In Morocco I got food poisoning and it was a horrible day. I can’t have that happen in Dakar. It sucked the life out of me.
Smooth and mistake-free with body and machine!”
D.M.: “After 5 times in the Saudi landscape, I think I know the areas we will be racing in quite good and can bring some insight for Larry to complete the stages cleanly.
We will take it day by day and learn as we go along and also try to learn the different terrains as we go, "smooth is fast" as they say and I will do all can to help Larry complete Dakar and get that finishers medal.”
