Romanian biker Emanuel Gyenes
The tennis tournaments in Australia and New Zealand and the Dakar Rally made the headlines at the beginning of this year.
Ștefan Baciu, 20.01.2015, 13:28
The tennis tournaments in Australia and New Zealand and the Dakar Rally made the headlines at the beginning of this year. Since 2008, for security reasons, the famous race has been held not in Africa but in South America.
On January 4th, 138 competitors lined up at the starting grid of that race in the motorcycle section, 164 in the car section and 48 in the ATV section. 64 crews joined the race in the truck section to cover a route of 92 hundred kilometers in 13 legs, which crossed Argentine, Bolivia and Chile. Two Romanians Marcel Butuza and Emanuel Gyenes attended the famous race on KTM bikes. Butuza abandoned in the eighth leg, when only 82 competitors were continuing the race, actaully half of all the participants. Emanuel Gyenes was one of those who were still running in the race was, ranking 21st in the general standings, four hours and a half from the winner. Emanuel Gyenes came 21st in the event, six hours after the winner, Marc Coma of Spain. But the Romanian made it first in the marathon section, where competitors aren’t allowed to change parts of the bike, including the engine. Gyenes was followed in the Marathon section by Swede Thomas Berglund, who came 14 minutes and 22 seconds after the winner and Jurgen Van den Goobergh, from the Netherlands, with four hours and six minutes after the winner. For the performance he obtained in the Dakar Rally, Radio Romania International has designated Emanuel Gyenes, the athlete of the week.
The Romanian didn’t start off the race on the right foot; the engine of his bike was almost completely drained of oil during the entire second leg of the race. He was supplied oil by the spectators who helped him end up on the 50th position in the leg. He made up for the time loss in the first two legs flying through the Atacama desert at a speed that pushed him to the 13th place in the last special event of the contest. Besides his success in the Marathon race, the Romanian also secured a 9th position in the amateur contest attended by competitors who aren’t formally representing any motorcycle brand.
At the age of 30, Emanuel Gyenes lives in Satu Mare, northwestern Romania and is considered the best enduro and rally-raid pilot in Romania. He has also participated in four other editions of the Dakar Rally and in 2011 he also came first in the Marathon section of the race. In 2012, Manuel Gyenes came 17th in the race, his best performance of all his five participations in the prestigious event.
