Kelly Racing helps Ford Performance build Baja-bound Ranger Raptor

Ford Performance says it worked with Australia-based Kelly Racing and US-based Lovell Racing to develop its Ranger Raptor off-road racer to take on the Score International Baja 1000 race which starts on November 18. 

The Baja-1000 bound Raptor off-road racer was built and tested in Australia before being brought over to the U.S. for final development and testing before the endurance race. 

Lovell Racing, led by multi-time off-road champion Brad Lovell, is one of Ford Performance’s key off-road teams.

Ford Performance says this unique Ranger Raptor will be racing on a low-carbon biofuel, demonstrating the potential of these fuels in demanding environments.

“The Baja 1000 is a demanding event and a well-known proving ground for off-road vehicles,” Ford Performance off-road motorsports supervisor Brian Novak says.

“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,” he says

The Baja 1000, held on the Baja California Peninsula, attracting global competitors eager to take on its treacherous desert terrain, steep drops and tough climbs.

In the past, both the F-150 Raptor and Ford Bronco have successfully raced at Baja.

Whether it was a stock 2017 F-150 Raptor finishing on the podium, the Bronco R race prototype’s development and verification of the current production Bronco or even hailing all the way back to the 1969 overall win, there’s history at play for Ford trucks. 

Ford Performance believes the Ranger Raptor is up for the challenge. It is built to the rules of Score’s stock class, which are meant to show off the capability of the stock street trucks.

The Baja 1000 Ranger Raptor will be powered by Shell’s low carbon biofuel blend which consists of more than 30% sustainably sourced bio components.

“Demonstrating low-carbon fuels in performance settings such 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,” Ford global director of sustainability, compliance and homologation Cynthia Williams says.

Ford is working to achieve carbon neutrality globally across its vehicles, operations and supply chain no later than 2050 and to reach science-based interim targets by 2035.