Apex Predator: Ford Unveils ‘Raptor T1+’ to Take On Dakar

Ever look at the Ford Raptor and think, “This just isn’t a good enough off-roader”? Ford Performance did.

So it scooped up two of the best rally drivers in the world and built the Ford Raptor T1+. Now it’s headed to the Dakar Rally, by way of a little hill in England, and stops in Morocco and Hungary.

Failed Ranger Births Ultra-Raptor

In January 2024, Ford brought its Ranger pickup to Dakar’s grueling off-road event. It finished 44th and 46th in the Cars category, and, well, that’s just not good enough.

Ford Performance and its rally partners learned from that attempt, and now they have a new truck: the Raptor T1+.

The Ford Raptor T1+ is a Raptor, in theory, more than it is in practice. But this new apex predator is seriously impressive.

Rally Car From the Ground Up

The truck sits on a new double wishbone suspension front and rear that delivers 14 inches of suspension travel. The shocks come from Fox and are three- and four-way adjustable. External bypasses and remote reservoirs ensure the dampers are up to the challenge of thousands of miles of hot desert racing.

Huge 14.5-inch brake rotors from Alcon have six-piston calipers. They live inside 17-inch wheels with 37-inch tires that don’t even start to fill this Raptor’s carbon wheel arches.

A steel space frame holds up the carbon panels. The Raptor T1+ has almost 16 inches of ground clearance underneath to clear almost anything in its path. It’s also 90.5 inches wide for extra stability, 5 inches wider than an F-150 Raptor pickup truck.

The engine is a 5.0L V8 based on Ford’s factory Coyote engine. It’s not turbo or supercharged, and Ford isn’t saying how much power it makes. The engine has a dry sump oil system to cope with the desert heat and sand, and has an exhaust Ford Performance says is designed for Dakar.

Taking on such a demanding race like Dakar is a daunting task for all of us at Ford Performance, but we have never shirked a challenge. To embrace this challenge, we have partnered with the best in the world with M-Sport and Red Bull and I think it shows how seriously we are taking this project. The Ford Raptor T1+ is a stake in the ground for our global off-road vision — we want to take on the best and prove ourselves in the toughest places on earth. The lessons we are learning from Raptor T1+, along with competing with stock trucks in Baja 1000 and Finke Desert Race, will help make Raptor vehicles even better for our customers.

— Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports.

Multiple Past Dakar Winners Will Drive Raptor T1+

Ford Performance and M-Sport will have four teams of drivers and navigators in Raptor T1+ vehicles. One of those will be driven by Carlos Sainz Sr., a 26-time World Rally Championship event winner and four-time Dakar winner (and the father of F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr.). Another truck will be driven by motorcycle racer Nani Roma, who has won Dakar both on two wheels and four.

Before heading to the Dakar Rally, Ford Performance and M-Sport will debut the Raptor T1+ at the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill climb on August 12.

A truck will run the Baja Hungary in August and the Rallye du Maroc in October. Then it’s getting ready for January 4, when the 2025 Dakar Rally takes place in Saudi Arabia.

That event will be the first where all four teams will compete at the same time.

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