This past February, The Blue Oval took its old, last-gen Ford Ranger T1+ off-road racing pickup to the Dakar Rally in what was expected to be a “finish and learn” session, given the fact that it was Ford’s very first time competing at the notoriously tough race. However, even though most first-timers struggle to merely complete Dakar, this pair of T1+ pickups managed to finish the grueling race and post some top 20 times at various stages throughout in a rather impressive showing in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. FoMoCo made it clear, however, that it is already looking ahead to the 2025 Dakar Rally – where it will debut its brand new Ford Raptor desert racer – and now, it has teased that same machine and revealed its driver lineup a bit early in the process.
The 2025 Dakar Rally Ford Raptor will be piloted by a total of four drivers, and today, the automaker has revealed two of them – Carlos Sainz Sr. and Nani Roma. Sainz Sr. – not to be confused with his son, who just so happens to be a successful Formula One driver himself – has already racked up four wins at Dakar, including this year behind the wheel of the Audi RS e-tron. As Ford Authority recently reported, Ford Performance has been on the verge of bringing the Dakar Rally vet on board for some time now, and that has come to fruition.
Sainz Sr. has been racing for a whopping 40 years now, but he’ll be joined by another tested veteran in Roma, a two-time Dakar winner who extends his partnership with Ford and M-Sport after his 2024 effort driving the T1+ Ranger. Testing of that truck’s replacement is already underway, though the team has less than a year to get ready for the debut of the new desert racing Ford Raptor in early 2025.
2025 @dakar Rally, meet Ford Raptor. We’ve set our sights on conquering the ultimate off-road challenge, joining forces with @CSainz_oficial and @NaniRoma. pic.twitter.com/55RFLcz44y
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) May 10, 2024
“The scale of our ambitions in off-road racing are unparalleled in Ford’s recent history and nothing is more clear in that ambition than our challenge to take the Ford Raptor to the legendary Dakar rally,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsport. “Taking on such an enormous challenge requires the best engineers, designers, team members, navigators and drivers, and in Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz Sr, we have two of the most experienced and successful drivers in Dakar history. The Ford Raptor is already showing promising signs in testing and having two of the best drivers in the world with us for the ride gives us confidence for the continued development of the truck.”
We’ll have more on the new Dakar Rally Ford Raptor soon, so be sure to subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford Ranger news, Ford Ranger Raptor news, and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
No Comments yet