The Ford Ranger Raptor has completed its first Baja 1000 desert race in Mexico after finishing literally in a class of its own.
The new-generation Ford Ranger Raptor has become the only road-legal vehicle to survive the 2022 Baja 1000 desert race in Mexico.
The Ford Ranger Raptor was the only vehicle in the “stock mid-class” category, which meant all it needed to do was finish the gruelling event to win its classification among a field of 276 entrants.
However, the Ford Ranger Raptor outlasted two other vehicles in different road-legal categories.
The other two vehicles in the “stock” categories – a Lexus LX600 and Toyota LandCruiser – did not finish the event.
The Ford Ranger Raptor in the Baja 1000 was modified for racing – as is allowed under the regulations – including the fitment of a roll cage and extra underbody protection.
Two spare tyres and a 160-litre fuel cell were mounted in the ute tray.
The brake hardware in the race truck was the same as fitted to new Ford Ranger Raptors, but the team installed more aggressive brake pads – and special brake fluid – better suited to hot temperatures and repeated high-speed use.
A rear-facing Safari snorkel, not yet an option on the Ford Ranger Raptor in Australia, was fitted to minimise dust intake.
However, the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine, 10-speed automatic gearbox, Fox shocks, and BFGoodrich tyres are the same as those fitted to showroom standard vehicles – with the exception of a Motec engine management computer.
“It’s a stock engine, a stock transmission, a stock driveline in this truck. It was just flawless,” Brian Novak, Motorsports Supervisor, Ford Performance, said in a media statement.
US off-road champion driver Loren Healy, one of four people who piloted the right-hand-drive Ford Ranger Raptor – including Brad Lovell, Jason Hutter and Andy Brown – said in a media statement:
“Right from when we first got in the truck, the track was just so tough and so technical and there were dead vehicles everywhere out there. We just picked our way through, stayed patient. I’m just so stoked to be here. Always great to see the sunrise in a race car.”
Despite these extensive modications, under Baja 1000 rules such vehicles are considered “stock” and are most closely related to their showroom counterparts compared to the “stadium” trucks that dominate the event.
While the winning vehicle completed the 2022 Baja 1000 in 19 hours and two minutes, the Ford Ranger Raptor crossed the finish line after one day, 11 hours and 43 minutes and was 117th outright from a field of 276 entrants, according to preliminary results.
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