The Ford Ranger is getting ready to race.
Ford has revealed the Ranger pickup-based competition truck it will enter the grueling Dakar Rally with next year.
The automaker is launching an all-new Ranger in the U.S. this year that includes a high performance off-road Raptor model.
The Dakar truck will wear the body of the last-generation global Ranger in 2024 before switching to the new one for the 2025 race.
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The two-week-long Dakar rally covers over 3,000 miles of Saudi Arabian desert.
The purpose-built vehicle was developed in collaboration with M-Sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsport and will compete in the top T1 class for the overall win.
It is built on a tube-frame chassis and powered by a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine.
Its suspension provides nearly 14-inches of wheel travel and can handle big jumps at high speeds.
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"Our first time in Dakar will be a learning adventure that will help inform how we compete in the future," said Ford Performance Motorsports global director Mark Rushbrook.
"But as with all racing, we’re not just racing to win, we’re also racing to help build better products for our customers."
To that end, a production-based race version of the new 2024 Ranger that completed last year's Baja 1000 race during its development recently won the Finke Desert Race in Alice Springs, Australia.
The Dakar entry is the latest move by Ford into major international racing, which will also include a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year with the Mustang GT3.
