Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsport
“The scale of our ambitions in off-road racing are unparalleled in Ford’s recent history and nothing is more clear in that ambition than our challenge to take the Ford Raptor to the legendary Dakar rally,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsport. “Taking on such an enormous challenge requires the best engineers, designers, team members, navigators and drivers, and in Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz Sr, we have two of the most experienced and successful drivers in Dakar history. The Ford Raptor is already showing promising signs in testing and having two of the best drivers in the world with us for the ride gives us confidence for the continued development of the truck.”
Matthew Wilson, M-Sport director and Dakar team manager
“It is such a pleasure to welcome Nani back to the team after a great run this year in the Ranger T1+ in Dakar,” said Matthew Wilson, M-Sport director and Dakar team manager. “His experience and knowledge were invaluable to us and I am sure we will continue to learn from him as this exciting program moves forwards. Carlos is a legend of our sport and one of the most successful drivers across all formats of off-road racing. His decision to return to Ford and M-Sport after so many years is a huge boost for the team and it is great to have him back in the extended Ford family ready to take on the huge challenge that Dakar presents. With testing well underway, we have a great chance now to learn from the best and push the development of the Ford Raptor forward even further.”
Carlos Sainz, driver
“I’m very excited by this new Dakar Rally project, to go back to working with Ford for the fourth time, and to return to M-Sport, to return to Malcom who I know very well, it’s really great to be back. My history with Ford goes all the way back to ‘87, and I think I was Malcolm’s [Wilson, founder of M-Sport] first driver, his first ever factory driver, back in the day, and I’m very proud of that. I’m really excited to be driving the Raptor truck, and to approach this big challenge with a lot of goals. One is to help Ford win the Dakar Rally.”
Nani Roma, driver
“It’s a great pleasure to be involved in this huge project, and with an iconic motorsport brand like Ford! Coupled with a team like M-Sport with its history, and legacy in the sport, to create something completely new with, I can say it’s been a very exciting few months already. The next Dakar is not far, so now it’s time to work really hard but Alex and I are so happy to be surrounded by super dedicated and talented engineers, mechanics, and the wider team - we get to wake up every day and do what we love with people that have the same passion, it’s the best feeling!”
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