As Ford Authority previously reported, The Blue Oval was set to make its debut at the 2025 Dakar Rally in the all-new Ford Raptor T1+ racer this month, an event that’s widely known as being one of the toughest off-road races on the planet. To help the automaker make this effort a strong one, it enlisted four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz Sr., along with Nani Roma, Mitch Guthrie Jr., Kellon Walch, and Mattias Ekström to drive the brand new machine. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as well as Ford had hoped.
The @dakar spirit in its truest form. When the going gets rough, @CSainz_oficial and Lucas Cruz prove the meaning of ‘Built @Ford Tough,’ with big thanks to @mitchguthrie5 and @KellonWalch for the assist – team work! 💪 pic.twitter.com/wINfGASKOy
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) January 5, 2025
Rather, Sainz Sr. wound up flipping the new Ford Raptor Dakar Rally racer on its roof at one point, though the team was able to get it back upright and continue on with the race – after they removed a considerable chunk of the vehicle’s bodywork. However, it seems as if this damage was more than cosmetic, as Ford Performance wound up announcing that the automaker’s 2025 Dakar Rally ended a bit prematurely due to additional damage discovered on the vehicle’s safety cage.
Due to damage the safety cage of vehicle #225 (@CSainz_oficial, Lucas Cruz) sustained during the accident in the first part of the 48h Chrono of the 2025 @dakar and in line with @fia regulations, it has been decided to retire the vehicle. pic.twitter.com/AghF8klJmO
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) January 6, 2025
Ford noted that not only is this a potential safety issue for the drivers, but also, it goes against FIA regulations, so ending its Dakar efforts early was clearly the right move. It’s a disappointing result for certain, but it’s a safe bet that the automaker will be back next year to give it another go – and hopefully, produce better results.
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