Ford’s Ranger Raptor midsize pickup will compete in the legendary Dakar endurance rally in 2024 and 2025, the automaker announced Wednesday. The 14-day 3,100-mile race is a brutal test of vehicles’ performance and durability through the Saudi Arabian desert.
The current Ranger Raptor has won off-road races like the Baja 1,000 in Mexico and Australia’s Finke Desert Race, but Dakar is next level.
Hundreds of vehicles from automakers around the world will compete, with the Ranger Raptor running in the top T1+ class for pickups and SUVs. The race takes place Jan. 5-19, 2024.
Just finishing the brutal race in the Ranger’s first year would be a victory. Ford will develop a new truck based on what it learns in 2024 and try to win the 2025 rally.
More:2024 Ford Ranger Raptor brings 405 HP to midsize truck segment
What makes the Dakar Rally so special?
The Dakar Rally has been one of the foremost leading off-road races since it began in 1979. Competitors include motorcycles, ATVs, buggies, pickups, SUVs, even heavy trucks.
The Dakar Rally helped establish the reputation of legendary vehicles including the Porsche 959, Peugeot 205, Mitsubishi Pajero and KTM 450 Rally motorcycle.
It’s not unusual for more than a quarter of vehicles to break down and fail to finish; just 235 out of 355 finished the 2023 race.
Originally run from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, the rally moved to South America from 2009-19 due to safety concerns from conflict in north Africa. It relocated to Saudi Arabia in 2020.
The 2024 rally will loop around the Arabian Peninsula from the ancient oasis city and World Heritage Site of al-Ula southeast through the Empty Quarter’s towering sand dunes and back to the Red Sea city of Yanbu.
Why is Ford doing this?
Ford wants to make motor sports and performance a bigger part of its image. In addition to the Dakar Ranger Raptor, it’s developing a hybrid gasoline-electric power plant for the Formula One-champion Red Bull Racing team and a version of the Mustang Dark Horse to compete in the GT3 class of next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in France.
That’ll make Ford a player — it hopes, a winner — in the world’s highest-profile races, in addition to the company’s longtime presence in NASCAR for North American buyers.
“Off-road racing is one of the cornerstone of Ford’s global performance program,” said Mark Rushbrook, Ford’s global director of performance and motor sports.
“The Ranger is our global truck and the Dakar Rally is the pinnacle of global off-road racing.”
What’s this got to do with the Ford vehicles I can buy?
The ’24 Dakar Ranger Raptor will use a modified version of the 3.5L Ecoboost V6 that’s a mainstay of Ford’s like the F-150, Expedition, Explorer and Lincoln Navigator. The 2025 Dakar truck will use a production-based engine, but Ford’s not saying which one.
Ford engineers will also develop the race truck’s driveline, suspension, aerodynamics, engine cooling and more. “There are a lot of areas where we can transfer learnings” back to the production Raptors and other vehicles, Rushbrook said. “Suspension, dampers, cooling powertrain.”
What’ll be special about the race truck?
The 2024 and 2025 Dakar trucks will have unique suspensions, frames and bodies. The engines have to be based on a production Ford power plant. Ford engineers are already working on the 2024 race truck, which is based on the current Ranger sold around the world.
“We’ll learn what it takes to compete and win” in 2024, Rushbrook said.
Ford will work with racing specialists in M-sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsports in England and South Africa, respectively, developing and building the trucks and engines.
The 2025 race truck will pick up changes from the new 2024 Ranger that goes on sale in the U.S. this fall. The ’24 model line will include first Ranger Raptor sold in the U.S. and feature a 405 hp twin-turbo 3.0L V6.
Saudi Arabia raising its sports profile, again
Saudi Arabia has been in the news — and not in a good way — for moving into high-profile sporting events. Recent examples include the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour’s merger with the PGA Tour, and the addition of a Formula One race in the country — all at the same time Saudi Arabia continues to sharply restrict women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights.
When asked about the controversy, a Ford spokesman said in an email: “The Dakar Rally has been held in multiple locations and continents since it started in 1977, including Europe, Africa, South America and Saudi Arabia. The full history can be found here: https://www.dakar.com/en/historical. It’s currently operated by Amaury Sport Organisation, a French company.“
Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.