Dakar Rally 2022: The road to Jeddah
STAGE 6 | Riyadh – Riyadh | Total distance: 620 km
Several competitors were stopped at the point of supply of the route in the previous stage, due to safety reasons, and if this had been an out of the ordinary incident, then the rain made stage 6 even more interesting. The organizers composed the route so that the sixth stage of the moto competitors was covered the day before, in stage 5, by trucks and cars. The terrain was so damaged that the organizers decided to end the moto stage at km 101.
All the moto competitors were redirected to Riyadh, and Mani finished this day in 44th place in the General Moto standings, and in 5th place in the Original by Motul/Malle Moto category, just before the day of rest.
STAGE 7 | Riyadh – Al Dawadimi | Total distance: 701 km
The day of rest brought some pleasant surprises to Mani, his colleagues from Autonet Import and Motul Romania paid him a visit to Riyadh, to support him more closely in the most demanding rally raid in the world. This day, however, was not entirely a day of rest for the competitors in the Original by Motul category, as it was a day when more work could be done on motorcycles , to prevent further technical problems in the future.
"Yesterday I had time to rest, so today I had a better day , and the temperatures are more favorable here, it is not as cold as it was in the first week . I got the route a little wrong in 3 places, losing about 3-4 minutes, but I felt really good so I started the week well. '' - said Mani in a video interview on his social media page.
After a special race of 401 km, Mani maintains his 5th place in the Original by Motul rankings and in the General Moto rankings he climbs to the 43rd place.
STAGE 8 | Al Dawadimi – Wadi Ad Dawasir | Total distance 830 km
The previous stages left their marks on the left palm of the Autonet Motorcycle Team rider, so the special stage 8 race was completed with great pain. The scenery was familiar to Mani because he has already traveled this route in the opposite direction in 2021. A quiet stage, which climbed Mani 2 more places in the General Moto standings, on 41st, and in the standings in the Original by Motul category, he kept his 5th place.
STAGE 9 | Wadi Ad Dawasir – Wadi Ad Dawasir | Total distance: 491 km
"A new day, a new attempt" - with this sentence began the interview given by Mani, about stage 9. After just 5 km, the petrol pump of the rear tank gave way, so at km 20, Mani had to ask for a bottle from some czech spectators, for the transfer gasoline from one tank to the other. To save fuel, Mani was forced to a slower tempo to the point of refueling (km 153), but even after. Here indeed proved the experience of the Satu Mare rider, who found the most ingenious method to mitigate the delays caused by this technical problem, maintaining his positions in the both rankings.
STAGE 10 | Wadi Ad Dawasir – Bisha | Total distance: 759 km
Unfortunately, this stage was not without problems either for the Autonet Motorcycle Team rider, who after stage 9, although he changed the pump and the fuel filter in the rear rezorvore, he had a new malfunction in the power system, and because of this he lost precious time during the special test. "In this Dakar we had a lot of technical problems. I think in the 11 Dakars so far, I haven't stopped as many times as I stopped this year." – said disappointed on his Facebook page Mani, who he hopes that the last two days will go smoothly. Despite the new technical challenges, Mani climbs a position in the General Moto rankings ( in 40th place) and maintains his 5th place in the Original by Motul rankings.
STAGE 11 | Bisha – Bisha | Total distance: 501 km
With a special test of 345 km in front, Mani had a slightly more difficult start due to the dust created by the 74 competitors in front of him, but managed to overcome a good part of them, finishing the stage in 42nd place. "A cool sample. I think they showed us all kinds of dunes. We also had a variety of colors, white dunes, yellow dunes, red dunes . There were very high dunes, middle dunes, even small but very soft dunes. I think that was the hardest section today. " – said Mani at the end of the day, adding that the last special test in Dakar 2022 will be 165 km and he does not think it will cause him much trouble. The last stage of the 2022 edition of the Dakar Rally takes place on January 14, and Mani is ranked 40th in the General Moto standings (about 06' ahead of Chinese rider Zaker Yakp ) and 5th place in the Original by Motul rankings (about 40' ahead of Matio Patrao (POR).
STAGE 12 | Bisha – Jeddah | Total distance: 680 km
The last stage comprised no less than 164 km of special trial, at the end of which Mani finished 4th in the Original by Motul category and 43rd at General Moto. Despite the technical problems encountered by the Satu Mare rider during this edition, he managed to get a spectacular 5th place in the overall standings of the Original by category Motul, and a 40th place in the General Moto standings.
We would like to congratulate Mani on the fighting spirit he has shown throughout the competition, as well as on another finish in Dakar! The title "Dakar Legend" is fully deserved this year too!
FINAL RANKING, DAKAR 2022:
CATEGORIA GENERAL MOTO
1. SAM SUNDERLAND (GBR) GASGAS FACTORY RACING 38H47’30’’
2. PABLO QUINTANILLA (CHL) MONSTER ENERGY HONDA 38H 50' 57''
3. MATTHIAS WALKNER (AUT) RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 38H 54' 17''
…..
40. EMANUEL GYENES (ROU) AUTONET MOTORCYCLE TEAM 47H 07' 11''
CATEGORIA ORIGINAL BY MOTUL
1. ARUNAS GELAZNINKAS (LTU) ORION DAKAR TEAM 43H 11' 06''
2. MILAN ENGEL (CZE) MOTO RACING GROUP (MRG) 43H 44' 11''
3. BENJAMIN MELOT (FRA) TEAM ESPRIT KTM 44H 21' 03''
4. CHARAN MOORE (ZAF) CHARAN MOORE 44H 40' 02''
5. EMANUEL GYENES (ROU) AUTONET MOTORCYCLE TEAM 47H 07' 11''
….