Back in early May, Ford Performance gave us our first glimpse at the all-new Ford Ranger Raptor T1+ desert racer that’s set to compete at the upcoming 2025 Dakar Rally, which takes place in January. At that time, the automaker also revealed half of its driver lineup for that grueling off-road race, which will consist of Carlos Sainz Sr. and Nani Roma, plus several more previously-unnamed pilots. Two more names were added to that list roughly a week ago, and now, Ford Performance has finished unveiling its entire driver lineup for the 2025 Dakar Rally.
Along with Sainz Sr., Roma, Mitch Guthrie Jr., and Kellon Walch, Mattias Ekström will also be joining the Ford Performance 2025 Dakar Rally lineup as The Blue Oval attempts to pilot its brand new off-road racer to victory in one of the most grueling such events on the docket. Like his fellow drivers, Ekström has quite an impressive resume that includes being a seasoned rally raid racer, as well as a two-time DTM champion and World Rallycross champion. He also has multiple Dakar Rally appearances under his belt, which will undoubtedly help as Ford Performance works to bring home a strong result in the T1 segment.
“Bringing Mattias Ekström into the Ford Performance family is a big step forward for our Dakar program,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance. “Mattias brings a wealth of experience in rally and off-road racing, and his skills add to a formidable team in the Ford Raptor T1+. The Dakar Rally is a test like no other, but we’re confident in our lineup.”
“Joining the Ford Dakar program is really exciting for me,” Ekström added. “Ford and M-Sport have built a vehicle that looks, sounds, and drives awesome and we all have a common ambition to win the Dakar Rally. I have had four tries at Dakar so far and now I can say that I have some experience to be able to aim for the top. There is also a lot of knowledge and experience in the team to back up the ambition – starting with the long motorsport heritage of Ford, proven track record of M-Sport, very impressive driver line-up, smart engineers, technicians, and the rest of the team. I look forward to the first competitive outing with the Ford Raptor T1+ at Rally du Maroc and later at the Dakar Rally. I am in it to win it and I hope we will have very successful and great years ahead of us. I will do everything in my power to make it happen.”
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