Last year, the all-new Ford Ranger Raptor participated in the Tatts Finke Desert Race in Australia, and wound up scoring a class win in the Production 4WD class while setting a new record in the process with Brad and Byam Lovell of Lovell Racing behind the wheel. Regardless, as Ford Authority reported last week, the Ford Ranger Raptor racer received some upgrades as it prepared to try and repeat that feat at the 2024 Tatts Finke Desert Race, and as it turns out, those changes worked out quite nicely.
Back-to-back Down Under! @bradlovell44 took his @ford Ranger Raptor through Australia’s remote terrain to the top of the podium, securing a Production 4WD Class victory at the @FinkeDesertRace 🇦🇺 Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/7XpTUzyOTY
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) June 10, 2024
Lighter and sporting a revised suspension calibration this year, the Ford Ranger Raptor racer once again secured a win in the Production 4WD class at Tatts Finke, once again with Brad Lovell behind the wheel and Byam Lovell playing the role of navigator. Their #773 Ranger Raptor was the only vehicle in its class to finish both legs of the 2024 event, though it did face some challenges along the way, including a broken left-rear suspension. Regardless, the Lowell duo managed to finish the final 130 kilometers of the first leg of the race in spite of that mechanical problem.
“Winning the Finke Desert Race in the Production 4WD class two years in a row shows just how good the road-going Ranger Raptor is,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director, Ford Performance Motorsports. “It was designed and engineered in Australia to take on the most extreme challenges, and Finke pushed the car to its absolute limits. The entire team showed incredible grit and determination to bounce back and secure a strong result.”
With another successful off-road race in the books, the Ford Performance team will now return home with data and lessons learned that will help it make improvements for future events, as well as road-going vehicles. As for the Ford Ranger Raptor, it’s facing another big test at the 2025 Dakar Rally, where the old T1+ racer had a solid showing this year, even in what was considered to be a “finish and learn” session for the all-new Ranger Raptor.
We’ll have more on the next-gen Ford Ranger 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.
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Yeah Buddy!! Congrats!!