Last year, The Blue Oval sent two of its then-brand-new Ford Raptor T1+ racers to compete in the Rallye du Maroc in Morocco, an off-road race that’s widely viewed as the curtain-raiser of sorts for the iconic Dakar Rally. With WRX champion Matthias Ekström and four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz Sr. piloting those rigs, Ford was more interested in testing out the new For Raptor T1+ in a competitive setting than anything else, but this year, it’s eyeing a much different result.
Ford Racing will once again field two Ford Raptor T1+ racers in the 2025 Rallye du Maroc, which is set to take place October 10th-17th, with Carlos Sainz Sr., Mattias Ekström, Mitch Guthrie Jr., and Nani Roma teaming up to tackle that particular desert romp. Once again, the chief goal is to prepare for the Dakar Rally, which is something that even Ford CEO Jim Farley has set as the ultimate goal for the company’s off-road-racing outfit. In the 2025 installment of that race, Ford wound up claiming third place.
This time around, those Ford Racing drivers will have a bit of an advantage thanks to a recent refresh of sorts for the Ford Raptor T1+ racer. It features some tweaks that were derived from the model’s racing experience thus far, and there are several of them to note. For starters, the racer is a bit shorter at 4,394 mm from bumper to bumper, and it utilizes revised bodywork with fewer strakes for a more aerodynamic shape.
The original butterfly doors have been replaced by gullwing units with larger windows to improve access and visibility, along with rearview cameras instead of traditional mirrors, new daytime running lights, and a polycarbonate laminate windscreen. Underneath, the revised Ford Raptor T1+ has a lighter Fox shock system with updated internals that enable faster spring absorption, coupled with Method wheels and BFGoodrich KDR EVO tires.
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