Ford is tackling one of the most demanding off-road races in the world — the Baja 1000 — in the next-generation Ranger Raptor pickup truck.
Held on the Baja peninsula in northwest Mexico, the SCORE International Baja 1000 is considered one of the world’s most prestigious off-road races. It attracts competitors from around the globe to take on its treacherous desert terrain, dizzying drops and challenging climbs.
The Ford Ranger Raptor will be racing on a low-carbon biofuel, demonstrating the potential of these fuels in the most demanding environments.
The new Ranger has been developed in Australia, with the Aussies taking on the extra workload of designing the Baja-ready pickup. Ford Performance worked with Australia’s Kelly Racing to build the Baja-bound Raptor, with US-based Lovell Racing set to develop and race the truck in Mexico.
Lovell Racing, led by multi-time off-road champion and Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Brad Lovell, is one of Ford Performance’s key off-road teams.
Brian Novak, Off-Road Motorsports Supervisor, Ford Performance:
“By entering this event, we’re building on the hundreds of thousands of kilometres of development testing and pushing the Ranger Raptor to new extremes. The Baja 1000 is a demanding event and a well-known proving ground for off-road vehicles. We are excited to compete in this extreme event with Ranger Raptor.”
Both the F-150 Raptor — the Ranger’s bigger brother — and Ford Bronco have successfully raced at Baja, with the 2017 F-150 Raptor finishing on the podium before driving an additional 400 miles home. In a show of confidence for the next-generation Ranger Raptor, Ford is entering the truck in SCORE’s stock class. This class of vehicles are closely related to their road-going cousins and is meant to show off the capability of the stock street trucks.
Low Carbon Motorsport
Ford is working to achieve carbon neutrality globally across its vehicles, operations and supply chain no later than 2050 and to reach science-based interim targets by 2035. The Ranger Raptor is no different and will be powered by Shell’s low-carbon biofuel blend, which consists of more than 30% sustainably sourced bio components.
Cynthia Williams, Global Director of Sustainability, Compliance and Homologation at Ford:
“Demonstrating low-carbon fuels in performance settings like the Baja 1000 can help bring biofuels and other clean energy technologies to scale more quickly and help to make them more available and affordable for everyone.”
As Ford launches electrified versions of its most popular nameplates, such as the recent E-Transit van, the company continues researching and developing alternative fuel options across all of its vehicles. Next year will see the introduction of the E-Transit Custom and a first look at the new E-Transit Courier.
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