The Rally Dakar! An adventure that was previously only reserved for professional sport-people. But since 2021, the “Dakar Rally Classic” format has been part of the “official Rally Dakar”. Now amateur teams have the opportunity, too, to take part in this traditional race. Juraj Šebalj and Ivan Vidaković (Team “Tecnosport”) also fulfilled a dream by taking part in this competition.
The route of the “Dakar Classic” runs parallel to the route of the “Rally Dakar” with twelve sections, each up to 600 km long. The twelve sections differ in length, difficulty and characteristics and consider the performance and technical characteristics of the older vehicles (prerequisite for participation: vehicles built before the year 2000). Therefore, the focus is not only on speed, but also on the navigation and endurance of the vehicles and the teams.
With their NISSAN TERRANO II, equipped with off-the-shelf General Tire 31X10.50R15LT 109Q Grabber X³ tyres, the crew Juraj Šebalj/Ivan Vidaković finally crossed the finish line of the Dakar Classic Rally after 12 exciting stages! They finished 10th overall out of eighty teams. Congratulations!
The race was characterized by very different results on the individual stages. In the rocky part of Saudi Arabia, the suspension and tyres were challenged the most during the third stage. The reasons were the high average speed in this section and the terrain was full of stones and extremely uneven. But the vehicle's suspension and the General Tire “Mud-Terrain” (MT) pattern Grabber X³ mastered the challenges very well.
The fourth day of the Rally Dakar was a success for Juraj Šebalj and Ivan Vidaković. They moved up from 17th overall to 13th place in the ranking.
The team had major problems with their Nissan on the 6th and 7th stages. At times in 10th place, the crew dropped back to 15th place due to technical issues and at this point of time, it seemed almost impossible to finish in the top ten.
But the Technosport team found the right solution for all challenges. On “day 8”, the route led out of the desert dunes and into a very rocky section, where the Grabber X³ tyres proved their robustness. Due to this, the team finished the day in 10th place. The result would have been even better if they had navigated correctly in one section and didn’t lost valuable time.
“This rally is a tough marathon and an interesting racing and life experience,” says Juraj Šebalj. After 12 days of racing, the team had the honour of unfurling the Croatian flag and celebrating reaching the finish line. At the end of the Dakar Classic 2024, the Šebalj/Vidaković crew finished in 10th place out of a total of eighty crews.
On the first day, it would have been a success for the team to finish the Dakar at all, so this 10th place should be rated even higher.
The third engine and the tyres from General Tire with the “Grabber X³” pattern brought the team successfully to the finish. Juraj Šebalj and Ivan Vidaković would therefore like to thank the Tecnosport team from Italy, who solved all the problems on the car brilliantly, and the General Tire brand, with tyres for every phase of our adventure!
