Ford is tackling the Baja 1000 — considered one of the world’s most prestigious off-road races — in a biofuel-powered next-generation Ranger Raptor pickup truck.
Held on the Baja peninsula in northwest Mexico, the Baja 1000 draws competitors from across the globe, attracted by the prospect of its treacherous desert terrain, daunting drops and challenging climbs.
By racing the Ranger Raptor on a low-carbon biofuel, Ford will demonstrate the potential of green energy even in the most demanding environments.
Developed in Australia, the Ozzies put in the extra design work on the new Ranger Raptor to create the Baja-ready pickup, with Ford Performance working with Kelly Racing to build the Baja-bound pickup, and US-based Lovell Racing set to develop and race the truck in Mexico. Lovell Racing — led by Brad Lovell, the multi-time off-road champion and Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer — is one of Ford Performance’s key off-road teams.
Brian Novak, off-road motorsports supervisor at Ford Performance, commented: “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 SCORE International 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.”
The Ranger’s bigger brother, the F-150 Raptor, and the US-market Ford Bronco SUV have both successfully raced at Baja, with the Ford F-150 finishing on the podium before driving a further 400 miles home.
Ford has such confidence in the next-generation Ranger Raptor that it is entering the truck in SCORE’s stock class. Vehicles in this class are closely related to their road-going cousins, showing off the capability of the standard street trucks.
Ford’s Low Carbon Future
Ford is working to achieve carbon neutrality across its global vehicle range, operations and supply chain by 2050 and expects to hit interim targets by 2035. The Ranger Raptor is part of the development of that plan, powered by Shell’s low-carbon biofuel blend that consists of more than 30% sustainably-sourced bio components.
Cynthia Williams, global director of sustainability at Ford, said: “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 continues researching and developing alternative fuel options across all of its vehicles, it is also launching electrified versions of its most popular nameplates, such as the recent E-Transit van, the forthcoming E-Transit Custom and E-Transit Courier being introduced to the lineup in 2023.
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