Ford celebrates podium finish at 2025 Dakar Rally

17 January 2025 - 14:37 By Motoring Reporter
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Mattias Ekström and navigator Emil Bergkvist claimed third place overall in the Raptor T1+.
Mattias Ekström and navigator Emil Bergkvist claimed third place overall in the Raptor T1+.
Image: Supplied

Ford Performance took a podium finish in the Dakar Rally in its debut year with the Ford Raptor T1+.

After over two weeks of gruelling racing through harsh terrain in Saudi Arabia, Mattias Ekström and navigator Emil Bergkvist claimed third place overall behind two Toyotas, capping their rally with a stage 11 victory in the Empty Quarter.

Ekström was second in the Prologue and again on stage 7, with teammate Mitch Guthrie Jr rounding out the podium in third in the latter. Guthrie would go on to finish fifth overall. With a stage win for Nani Roma as well, the Ford Raptor T1+ has shown it has what it takes to compete with the best on the global stage, said Ford.

“We can be very proud as a team that we were able to fight at the front and show good pace and great consistency,” said Ekström. “The quality of the Ford Raptor T1+ has been so good throughout this incredibly tough race. Now I am looking forward to coming back next year and pushing for the overall win.”

This year’s format was one of the most challenging in the event’s history, as the 48-hour chrono and marathon stages marked the first half of the race, and the Empty Quarter, a no-man's land of desert and dunes, met competitors in the final stages.

Four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz delivered one of the rally’s most epic moments during the 48-hour chrono stage. After an early roll, he and co-driver Lucas Cruz refused to give up, and with assistance from teammate Guthrie Jr, the Spaniard fought back to finish the stage. Unfortunately the defending champion had to abandon the race after post-stage checks showed damage to the safety cage.

Roma added a commanding comeback win in stage 10 for his first stage win in a decade, and the first stage win for the Ford M-Sport team.

This was the blue oval’s second year of participation in the Dakar Rally as a works team, after Roma and South Africa’s Gareth Woolridge finished respectively 44th and 46th in the 2024 event in a South African-built ford Ranger 3.5. The new 2025 Raptor T1+, built in the UK by Ford’s world rally championship partner M-Sport, features advanced Fox shocks only found on the four Ford race vehicles in the Dakar race, and a Coyote-based 5.0l V8 engine.

“The Dakar Rally is unlike any other motorsport challenge, and this year our team rose to the occasion,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance. “Mattias, Carlos, Mitch, Nani and the entire team proved the capability of Ford Raptor T1+. We have proven that the Raptor has the speed and durability required to compete in the toughest environments on the planet and we now look forward to the rest of the FIA World Rally Raid Championship.”

The five-event championship includes the South African Safari from May 18-24 starting at Sun City.


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