The Ford Raptor T1+ is actually a far cry from its manufacturing pickup truck counterpart and its Ford Ranger T1+ predecessor. Ford Efficiency and M-Sport revealed their latest rally raider on Friday on the Goodwood Competition of Velocity, the place Carlos Sainz ultimately drove it up the Hillclimb stage.
Sainz and Nani Roma, together with two different drivers who’ve but to be introduced, will pilot the Raptor on the 2025 Dakar Rally. Beforehand, it’ll make its competitors début with Roma on the Hungarian Baja in August, although it won’t be labeled, adopted by the Rallye du Maroc in October as a remaining gown rehearsal for the Dakar.
“That is the form of alternative that comes as soon as in a lifetime,” started M-Sport head Matt Wilson. “To help Ford Efficiency as they head to Dakar with this new Ford Raptor T1+ goes to be an unimaginable journey. We’ve already accomplished ten thousand kilometres of testing in a number of the harshest circumstances we might discover so we really feel able to tackle this final problem beginning at Baja Hungary subsequent month.”
The automobile measures out at 2.3 metres in width and a pair of,010 kilograms in weight. Most traits adjust to FIA T1+ laws comparable to using 37-inch tyres and 350 millimetres of wheel journey, aided by means of 8.5-inch by 17-inch wheels and 355-mm ventilated brake discs from Alcon and 6 piston calipres. The Raptor options double wishbone suspension on each side with coil-over three- and four-way adjustable exterior bypass dampers courtesy of FOX.
The engine is a 5.0-litre V8 that comes from Ford’s Coyote line. It additionally has a dry sump oil system and tuned exhaust.
Some elements are impressed by the manufacturing and racing-based Ford Raptor. The latter, a programme led by Brad Lovell, has loved nice success in desert racing with class wins on the newest Baja 1000 and Finke Desert Race. This and the rally raid version have 400 mm in floor clearance, a widened stance, and an strategy angle of over seventy levels.
“Taking over such a demanding race like Dakar is a frightening activity for all of us at Ford Efficiency, however now we have by no means shirked a problem,” commented Ford Efficiency’s racing boss Mark Rushbrook. “To embrace this problem, now we have partnered with the most effective on this planet with M-Sport and Pink Bull and I believe it exhibits how severely we’re taking this challenge. The Ford Raptor T1+ is a stake within the floor for our international off-road imaginative and prescient. We need to tackle the most effective and show ourselves within the hardest locations on earth. The teachings we’re studying from Raptor T1+, together with competing with inventory vans in Baja 1000 and Finke Desert Race, will assist make Raptor autos even higher for our clients.”
M-Sport, Ford’s lead World Rally Championship outfit, launched a rally raid division in 2022 in partnership with Neil Woolridge Motorsport. Roma and Gareth Woolridge raced Rangers for the workforce throughout the 2023 season, the previous notching a podium at Morocco of their first World Rally-Raid Championship begin, earlier than tackling the Dakar. Each drivers struggled with mechanical points and a crash however finally reached the end; Roma scored a greatest stage end of ninth whereas Woolridge’s was seventh. NWM broke from M-Sport to proceed growing the Ranger in 2024.
Sainz, the defending Dakar winner, joined the Raptor group in Might. Roma took the Raptor to abandon testing in Morocco the next month; as he did in 2023, Africa Eco Race truck winner Tomáš Tomeček supplied logistical help.
The Hungarian Baja, a part of the FIA European Baja Cup, is scheduled for 8–11 August whereas the Rallye du Maroc will conclude the W2RC season on 6–11 October. The 2025 Dakar Rally will happen on 4–17 January.
