Ford Performance announced it will compete at the 2024 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia with the Ranger T1+, developed in collaboration with longtime partners M-Sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsports (NWM).
The new rally truck will compete in the Rally Raid T1+ class and looks like an evolution of the Rally-Raid Rangers built in South Africa by NWM over the past decade. As is evident from its grille and headlights, it is based on the previous generation of the Ford Ranger, and features a modified 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine and a wonderfully wild bodywork.
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The development program will include competition entries like the Spanish Baja España Aragón in July and the Moroccan Rally du Maroc in October, leading to the 2024 Dakar Rally which will take place between January 5 and 19 in the dunes of Saudi Arabia. Ford will compete on a “finish and learn” basis which means that the team doesn’t aim for the stars in 2024, which is the beginning of a factory-backed multi-year plan.
Mark Rushbrook, Global Director at Ford Performance Motorsports said: “We cannot underestimate the enormity of the challenge ahead of us. We need to finish and learn first with Ranger T1+ and partners like M-Sport and NWM, who bring their expertise to bear”. The high-ranked official added: “Our first time in Dakar will be a learning adventure that will help inform how we compete in the future. But as with all racing, we’re not just racing to win, we’re also racing to help build better products for our customers.”
Ford Performance said that more racing versions of the Ranger and Ranger Raptor are coming, as part of its expansion in global off-road racing. The highlight among those will be the all-new custom-built Ranger Raptor T1+ that is under development for the 2025 Dakar Rally, based on the current generation of the truck.
