Building Ranger Raptor for Baja

Ford Performance worked with Kelly Racing in Australia to prepare the Next-Gen Ranger Raptor for Baja. Working within the rules of SCORE’s Stock Mid-Size class, modifications to the vehicle are kept to vehicle and crew safety items, wheels, and tyres, driving and safety lights, underbody and vehicle protection, and a 160-litre fuel cell fitted into the tray.

With a 10-week window to take a Next-Gen Ranger Raptor from the production line and transform it into a race-ready truck, “the process was intense,” said Todd Kelly, team principal, Kelly Racing. “The team at Ford Performance in Australia and the U.S. were amazing and while the nights were long, I’m so glad I got involved in this project.”

“I’d heard the stories about this Ranger Raptor, but it wasn’t until I got my hands on it and drove the thing that I realised just how impressive it is. The powertrain, the chassis, the suspension have been built to do Baja, so all we had to do was work within the rules of the class and fit the cage, the fuel system, and safety gear,” Kelly said.

“I was lucky enough to do a lot of the driving during the shakedown testing in the Outback and I was completely blown away with how capable the truck is out of the box. I was finding that I was pushing it as hard as I could across dunes and along rutted tracks and yet the truck still felt like it had heaps left to give.”

All-star off-road team to drive Ranger Raptor at Baja

Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Brad Lovell, who runs one of Ford Performance’s key off-road racing teams, Lovell Racing, was drafted to help further develop the race Ranger Raptor in the U.S. and to be one of its pilots in the race.   Lovell recently captured the 2022 Ultra4 4600 class national championship driving a Ford Bronco.

The six-time SCORE-International Baja 1000 class winner was thrilled to be selected to help with the vehicle’s race prep, and to help select the other drivers. “I love Baja and I’m really pumped to be working with Ford Performance on this project,” said Lovell.

“The truck was built by Kelly Racing in Australia, arrived on a plane in California and we headed straight to Johnson Valley for testing with final prep support from our good friends at Huseman Engineering. All the guys who drove it were impressed with it but being right-hand-drive we all needed a little reprogramming for what it’s like to be driving on the other side of the truck and not smoke the opposite side against the rocks.

“We, along with Ford Performance, assembled a great crew to help at the race, from fellow Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Curt LeDuc, who’ll be running the team from HQ, to Dan Huseman who’s been working on the truck here in the U.S, to Loren Healy and Jason Hutter who are both great racing drivers with plenty of off-road wins under their belts. It’s also a real treat to be driving with the Browns.

“And it's been great working with guys from the global Ford Performance team supporting us on the ground here in California with their know-how on both the Baja race and the Ranger Raptor, it has been invaluable,” Lovell said.

Partnering with the best

When it came to developing the base vehicle to help prepare the Next Gen Ranger Raptor for Baja, Ford Performance approached companies who had an intrinsic role in developing the road-going version.

“We worked with partners who assisted in development of the standard vehicle, as they have that solid understanding of the vehicle’s attributes, and therefore the potential changes needed to handle the tough conditions in Mexico,” said Andrew Philpott, Ford Performance, commercial manager, Australia.

“Because many of our partners had extensive off-road racing experience, we not only had a head-start on the work that needed to be done but could draw on this expertise and guidance to expedite vehicle development.”

Involved with accessories development for Next Gen Ranger and Everest from the beginning, ARB’s Regional Export Manager, Danny Brown, was an early collaborator on this project. He was able to share his off-road racing experience with Ford Performance during the planning and build of the race-ready Ranger Raptor.

ARB Managing Director Andy Brown will also drive during the event, alongside navigator and son Danny Brown.

“ARB is proud to partner with Ford in its quest to conquer the grueling Baja 1000 with the Next-Gen Ranger Raptor,” said Andy Brown. “ARB has a long and storied relationship with off-road racing dating back to the ’70s, we know first-hand the benefits the end consumer receives from the knowledge gained when you put products in extreme environments and test them to their limits.”

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

“As a global energy company, our purpose is to power progress together by providing more and cleaner energy solutions,” said Selda Gunsel, Vice President of Fuels and Lubricants Technology at Shell. “Providing more energy while reducing emissions is a huge challenge, but we recognize that multiple solutions, including low-carbon biofuels, will be required to achieve this target.”

Ford Performance has also had tremendous support and guidance from its collaborators throughout the project, especially the teams and experts at Herrod Performance, Kelly Racing, Method Race Wheels, FOX, BF Goodrich, Racetech, Garret, PWR, TRW, MoTeC, and Proloom Motorsport.

The race-prepped Next Gen Ranger Raptor will kick off its SCORE-International Baja 1000 campaign in Ensenada, Mexico, on Nov. 18.

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