“We were rivals and now we will compete together!”
CREW FACTS
J.S.
- Juraj Sebalj can tell you loads about rally racing. The Croatian driver is a 11-time national champion, and a 4-time Croatia Rally winner (now part of the WRC calendar). He entered rally-raid last year, fulfilling his dream of competing in the Dakar. He started with the Classic race and finished in a brilliant 10th place despite his inexperience.
- The Zagreb driver will have Sinisa Crnojevic as navigator, a man who has been his opponent in the Croatian championship! The two national talents fought a fierce battle for many years. They are now good friends and are also the only Dakar 2025 Croatian competitors.
- As a Toyota ambassador in Croatia, Juraj wanted a vehicle from the brand. He bought the car of Italian driver Paolo Bedeschi, a BJ71 from 1988 which has already finished 3rd twice in the Dakar Classic. The team has spent the last three months preparing the vehicle, which they hope to take to the top positions.
- The design of the car is inspired by a map of the Croatian islands (there are more than 1000), and the roof is decorated with… more than 300 stickers! To finance its Dakar, the team offered everyone interested to participate by purchasing a space on the roof, with an entry price of 25 euros. Anyone could put a sticker, for example a company logo, a first name or a sentence. There was even one person who left a love note for his family! “They are all going to Dakar with us”, as Juraj said. In return, the team will bring back sand and stones from the desert.
S.C.
- Check the Croatian rally championship prize list and you will find the name of Sinisa Crnojevic. A driver since 1996, he achieved national glory and became champion in 2008. He also competed in numerous races at European level, and even a round of the world championship (WRC) in 2006.
- Sinisa has always been passionate about the Dakar. He spent hours watching it on TV as a child, and always felt a deep admiration for the competitors. But he was never able to participate for financial reasons. The opportunity to be a co-driver is a real gift as it allows him to finally be part of the Dakar. That's why he accepted the race, even if it's different from his usual driving job.
- In order to gain experience, Sinisa worked on co-driving during the Panda Raid in Morocco. He then went to train in Dubai with Juraj at the end of December, a few days before the start of the Dakar. Sinisa will also be able to get some advices from his wife, who was his co-driver in the past.
2025 AMBITION
J.S.: “From my point of view, every real rally driver wants to do the Dakar. This has been my dream from the first time I drove a rally. After winning 11 Croatian rally championships, I said: ‘that’s enough, I need something new, let’s go to the Dakar’. I did it last year and the first week was terrible, but the second was better. I started without pressure because I had to learn. During rest day we did the changes we needed and then it was better. We had a lot of problems with the car but it’s normal in the Dakar! This year we want to fight for a good result, but I don’t’ have a lot of experience here. We hope for the best, even if you can never tell what will happen during a Dakar. The Classic race is beautiful, but also very tricky. There are a lot of challenges and I’m very happy that the organization is always improving the rules. From what I could see in Barcelona, I think the competition will be harder this year than in the past.”
S.C.: “There was a time when Juraj and I were rivals, fighting every time, for every second, and now we will compete together! I’m very excited. It’s a huge adventure. As it’s the Classic race, you don’t have to go full throttle, but I have a limited experience in co-driving. It’s a big responsibility to do everything in the correct way, I hope everything will work out. I’m sure there will be mistakes, but hopefully not so much! I only did Panda Raid in this role but I’m not afraid of challenges. Our ambition is to win. It will be very hard but we will be concentrated on it from Stage 1.”
