Ford says it wants to “own” the world of rallying as it adds a factory programme in the Dakar Rally in 2025.
The American marque already has a strong presence in off-road competition thanks to a semi-factory team in the World Rally Championship and official entries in Baja 1000 and Finke Desert Race in Australia, but is now expanding to cross-country rallying in association with M-Sport.
It revealed the Raptor T1+ to the public for the first time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Friday, having already racked up 10,000km of private testing with the V8-powered challenger.
Four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz and double champion Nani Roma have been signed to lead the effort, with the identity of the remaining two drivers to be announced at a later date.
Entering the two-week marathon in Saudi Arabia is part of Ford's intent to rule rallying across all its disciplines, according to motorsport boss Mark Rushbrook.
“We are excited. We want to own off-road and rally,” Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, told Motorsport.com.
“Everything we do in WRC is fantastic and in Finke and Baja and King of the Hammers, but we are so excited to have this all-new truck with M-Sport, with Nani, with Carlos to go take on Dakar. It's the ultimate challenge.”
Ford made an exploratory outing in Dakar earlier this year with a revised version of the NWM-built Ranger to get a better understanding of the ins-and-outs of the event, while simultaneously building an all-new vehicle for the start of its full-fledged factory programme in 2025.
Rushbrook explained that Ford was lured by both the challenge and the appeal of Dakar, which remains the most prestigious rally-raid in the world.
“All Bajas are great races, Finke is a great, [so is] King of the Hammers. There are so many good off-races out there, some more regional or less local than others,” he said.
“But we felt Dakar is really the ultimate challenge here - the length of the race, the global following.
“It's a massive challenge. All off-road racing is tough in different ways. Because Dakar is so long, so many long days across so many days, it tests not just the machine but also the individuals, how strong they are.
“We know from our effort earlier this year with a Ford Ranger, we know how tough it is. So we know what was the challenge we signed up for, but we are excited about it.”
Car manufacturers typically approved motorsport programmes for a fixed time period, with the board periodically evaluating whether to continue based on factors such as return on investment, finances and the general economy.
However, Rushbrook said there was “no set time” for Ford’s Dakar project, before adding: “It’s not like ‘get a win and we are gone’.
“Like I said, we want to own off-road. So indefinitely. As long as it makes sense, why would we stop?”
