The Ford Ranger Is Heading To The Dakar In New Factory Effort

Photo: Ford

The Dakar Rally is one of racing’s last true adventures. The 5,000-plus-mile cross-country rally across treacherous terrain takes two weeks to complete. While it’s been 16 years since the traditional route from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal, has been used, Saudi Arabia has been an equally challenging host. It’s a challenge that Ford Performance is going to take on next year with the Ranger.

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Ford Performance is mounting a factory effort to win its first Dakar Rally in collaboration with M-Sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsport. (NWM) The multi-year plan will start with a purpose-built rally-raid machine based on the previous generation global Ford Ranger. The Ranger, equipped with a 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine, will compete in two test events this year before taking on the Dakar in January 2024. The team will take the lessons learned over testing and competition to build the Ford Ranger Raptor T1+ for the 2025 Dakar Rally.

Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports, said:

“To lead the charge at one of the ultimate global off-road events – the Dakar Rally – has been a goal of ours. We cannot underestimate the enormity of the challenge ahead of us. We need to finish and learn first with Ranger T1+ and partners like M-Sport and NWM, who bring their expertise to bear. Together, we can do amazing things in the sand dunes of the Arabian Peninsula.”

Photo: Ford

When the Ford Ranger Raptor T1+ arrives in 2025, it will likely face stiff competition from the other factory teams in the elite T1+ class. Nasser Al-Attiyah has won the last two Dakar Rallies with the Toyota GR DKR Hilux. Audi’s first two Dakar attempts with the all-electric RS Q e-tron hasn’t led to outright success, but the prototype buggy has been a formidable presence out on stages.