Juraj Varga has joined the Quad exodus as he has acquired a Polaris RZR Pro R, which he plans to race in the SSV category.
He is among many Quad riders who have departed for other categories after the announcement in April that their class has been axed from the 2025 Dakar Rally. The news came during the World Rally-Raid Championship‘s BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, and Varga expressed his disappointment by withdrawing from the rally shortly after; he was already in a hole after an electrical failure in the first stage, but had little incentive to continue since such races were used as training for Dakar.
In January, Varga placed third overall in the final Dakar for Quads with top-three stage finishes in nine of twelve legs, improving a spot after narrowly missing the podium on début in 2023. The BP Ultimate Rally-Raid was his only other W2RC start in 2024 so far.
He finished third in the 2023 W2RC Quad standings with a runner-up at the season-ending Rally du Maroc.
His Polaris was prepared by Slovakian dealer Quadmoto centrum.
“For me and the entire team, there is another new and big challenge: to move to racing at a higher level and head into a new category among the cars, buggies, and trucks,” wrote Varga. “After many months of considering the best option to continue, and thanks to Quad-Moto s.r.o. and Polaris Slovakia, we finally came to a conclusion.”
Most Quad competitors typically head to SSV first when they look to compete in an FIA class. Dakar winner and newly crowned World Quad Champion Manuel Andújar will make his SSV début this weekend as a co-driver, while Pablo Copetti (third at Dakar in 2023) will drive one in the 2025 Dakar. Former Dakar Quad victors Josef Macháček, Ignacio Casale, and Sergei Kariakin are also SSV drivers while last year’s W2RC runner-up Rodolfo Guillioli has become a navigator. 2023 champion Laisvydas Kancius will race the Dakar as a co-driver in the top-level Ultimate division.
Polaris is the defending Dakar SSV winner.
