Behold the Ford M-Sport Ranger in Dakar livery
Ford has never tried its hand at the Dakar Rally. That all changes next year - with a little help from M-Sport
While many car manufacturers like to try their hand at motorsport, few attempt it with the breadth of enthusiasm that Ford brings to bear. Back in the summer it reminded us that it had ‘raced and won from Le Mans to Monaco, Daytona to Bathurst and Finke to Ensenada’ - which is undeniably impressive for a firm that doesn’t routinely build sports cars in the traditional sense. Its commitment to the cause shows no sign of abating either: next year, for the first time, it will attempt the fearsomely tricky job of finishing the 2024 Dakar Rally.
This is the first step in what Ford calls a ‘multi-year plan’ to fill a gap in its ‘sweeping motorsport resume’. Why? Well, there are likely several good reasons, but mainly one suspects it’s because it involves pickup trucks - a segment that the manufacturer has an enormous global stake in. So while the 3.5-litre V6-powered Ranger T1+ might look a bit like old hat (based, as it is, on the previous generation model) it is actually a forerunner to the custom-built Ranger Raptor that Ford plans to enter in the 2025 running of the Dakar. When the gloves come off.
For now, though, it’s all about accruing experience - something it reckons will filter through to its operations elsewhere. “Our first time in Dakar will be a learning adventure that will help inform how we compete in the future,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director, Ford Performance Motorsports, back in the summer. “But as with all racing, we’re not just racing to win, we’re also racing to help build better products for our customers.”
Of course, there’s nothing customers like more than seeing a liveried (and hugely tricked-out) version of a car they own delivering a podium finish - and Ford has absolutely assembled the right team for doing that in the fullness of time. If we’re not very much mistaken, the latest photos of the M-Sport Ranger are taken at M-Sport’s extensive facility just outside Cockermouth, where it fettles the current Puma WRC car. Alongside Neil Woolridge Motorsports (South African rally raid legends), who better to lead the new project?
“The Dakar Rally is truly among the pinnacle of global off-road racing events,” said Malcolm Wilson, M-Sport managing director. “We’ve achieved great success over the years with Ford in FIA WRC rally racing and can’t wait to apply this same level of focus, energy and effort to competing with Ranger in Dakar.”
Clearly, the current Ranger T1+, resplendent in Ford colours for the first time, is all part of what could best be termed baby steps. But anyone who doubts the firm’s commitment or capacity for success in a competition renowned for chewing up newbies and spitting them out need only look at its track record. Roll on January.
I don’t believe those are genuinely Malcolm Wilson’s words. It reads like it was curated by an American. ‘Rallying? Don’t you mean rally racing?’
The only thing worse is when the BBC or similar, bless em, does a news piece on rallying and constantly refers to it as a ‘race’ and the whole bloody rally as a ‘stage’
While it's great for M Sport and great for the Dakar, this is another indication of Ford trying to reinvent themselves as a commercial vehicle company. Not great for those of us who've been fond of their faster passenger vehicles.
The Venn diagram of "motorsport" and "world-famous sporting event" doesn't have much in it except this.
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