The brand-new Ford Raptor T1+ that Carlos Sainz will race to defend his Dakar Rally title got a fresh paint job for this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Spanish off-road legend has teamed up with Ford Performance and M-Sport as he bids to win his fifth Dakar title.
62-year-old Sainz started his World Rally Championship career in a Ford Sierra Cosworth in 1987. Fast-forward 37 years and Sainz brings back his immense passion for motorsports to Ford as the American brand chases down Dakar success.
Sainz is fully motivated for the challenges ahead: “At the last Dakar I proved I can still deliver victory and with Ford our final goal is to win the Dakar Rally.”
Carlos Sainz will race all-new Ford Raptor T1+ at 2025 Dakar Rally:
- Sainz plans to “use all my experience to guide the team” as he helps to develop as well as drive the Ford Raptor T1+, a vehicle purpose-built to race the Dakar Rally.
- Sainz is famous throughout motorsport for his tireless work ethic: “I’m passionate about this new project and enjoy the Dakar Rally so much. I’m hugely motivated to win”
- The Spanish off-road legend’s first chance to get “a clear picture of our car’s competitiveness” will be the 2024 Rallye du Maroc, running October 6-11.
- Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz will race the Dakar Rally in January 2025 alongside three more Ford Raptor T1+ crews. The Dakar remains the toughest endurance race motorsport has to offer.
Deep dive:
- Ford Performance and M-Sport have recruited Carlos Sainz as they set their sights on success at the world’s hardest race, the Dakar Rally. The brand-new Ford Raptor T1+ has been designed and engineered to withstand the unique challenges of the iconic two-week desert adventure.
- set their sights on success at the world’s hardest race, the Dakar Rally. The brand-new Ford Raptor T1+ has been designed and engineered to withstand the unique challenges of the iconic two-week desert adventure.
- Four-time Dakar Rally winner Sainz is ready to play his part in Ford’s new project: “This is a completely new car and that’s incredibly exciting. I’m really looking forward to working together with this new team, to testing together and making this car the fastest car at the Dakar.”
- “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,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports.
- From Sainz’s first attempt at the Dakar two decades ago the Spaniard has always had the backing of Red Bull. This partnership has helped Sainz win the Dakar four times in four different cars: Volkswagen, Peugeot, Mini and Audi. Now Sainz wants to add Ford to that impressive list.
- The Ford Raptor T1+ is fitted with advanced suspension, fearsome V8 performance and 37-inch tyres among a list of impressive specs engineered to tame the relentless Dakar Rally. Sainz has full confidence in this collaboration between M-Sport, Ford Performance.
“I trust 100 percent in M-Sport, Ford Performance, I trust them and they trust me. I now have grey hair compared to my first time racing with Ford in a Sierra Cosworth in 1987, but my passion to win is just as strong.”
- After 10,000 kilometres of testing the new livery of the Ford Raptor T1+ was finally revealed at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK. Every aspect of the bespoke design has been purpose-built to overcome the most unforgiving rally-raid terrain on the planet.
- “Reliability and performance are the two key words in motorsport, especially in off-road competition,” Sainz explains. “I want the fastest car but without compromising reliability.”
- Sainz will be joined in the new team by co-driver Lucas Cruz. The duo’s victory in the Ultimate class in Saudi Arabia earlier this year was their fourth Dakar victory together. Fellow Spaniards Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro will also race the Ford Raptor T1+ at the 2025 Dakar plus two more race crews that will be announced later this year.
- “The Dakar is a great challenge that brings drivers, teams, mechanics and everybody to the limit, Sainz explains. “The Dakar is always an adventure that takes us into the unknown.”
- The 2025 Dakar Rally runs January 3-17 as motorsport’s toughest race heads back to Saudi Arabia for a sixth time. The upcoming Dakar will finish among the notorious sand dunes of the Empty Quarter as the rally’s difficulty increases day by day under an intense desert sun.
- “You need to be well prepared physically as well as mechanically,” Sainz reveals. “If you’re not well prepared you’re going to pay a big price. You need to respect every kilometre of the Dakar.”
- Sainz and Cruz will race their Ford Raptor T1+ for the first time at October’s Rallye du Maroc. The rally features five desert stages and is the ideal dress rehearsal for the 12-stage Dakar in Saudi Arabia next January.
- “Everybody has done a really good job and now it’s time to take the Raptor racing to see where we are.” Sainz said ahead of the trip to Morocco. “We all know that the Dakar requires a fast car, but also a reliable car so we are working on all areas.”
- Sainz and Ford will make history if the 62-year-old racing driver can win his fifth Dakar title with a fifth different manufacturer. Victory in the battle against unending sand dunes and world-class competitors is far from certain. However, what is guaranteed is the team’s desire to meet the unique challenges found the desert.
- “Together we will make ourselves into a really solid team that works hard for each other,” Sainz concludes. “Our team will be working every day towards our goal of winning the Dakar Rally.”
