SCORE Journal

BAJA BOUND RANGER RAPTOR The Next-Gen Ford Ranger Raptor Will Be Back In BaJa By Dan Sanchez Photos Courtesy Ford Motor Co. With a long history in SCORE Baja racing, the next generation Ford Ranger Raptor will return to race at the 55th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 Presented by 4 Wheel Parts. “The Next-Gen Ranger Raptor is huge for us, it’s a global platform and Baja is an iconic race and we’re really looking forward to being able to show what the Ranger Raptor can do at one of the toughest races in the world,” said Brian Novak, off-road motorsport supervisor, Ford Performance. “Ford has such a great history of success with so many different nameplates at Baja, and as part of a global effort, we plan to continue that success this year with the Next-Gen Ranger Raptor.” There’s a reason this particular Ranger Raptor has an Australian-style to it, as it was prepped by Kelly Racing in Australia for SCORE’s Stock Mid-Size class in conjunction with Ford Performance. Modifications to the vehicle include passenger safety items, and a 160-litre fuel cell. For its return to Baja, the race-prepared Ranger Raptor will be driven by Baja veterans Brad Lovell, Loren Healy, and Jason Hutter. Also sharing the cockpit will be the father and son team of Andy and Danny Brown who live and breathe off-roading through their Australia-based global aftermarket accessories business ARB. Overseeing the team during the race is Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Curt LeDuc. 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. “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.” A MOSTLY STOCK RACER The Ranger Raptor race truck is outfitted with a 3.0L, twin-turbo V6 that puts out 400 horsepower and 430 lbs.ft. torque. It also uses Ford’s production 10-speed automatic transmission with factory internal parts and calibrations. The front and rear locking differentials are also stock, as are the trail controls for off-roading, Ford’s Dynammic Safety Controls, headlights and taillights. While the truck is running as close to stock as possible, the truck is also outfitted with 315/70R15 BFGoodrich KO2 tires mounted on Method Race Wheels and ARB auxiliary lighting (AR40 Intensity Lightbar). The suspension is factory Ford Ranger with FOX shocks using Live Valve Technology. The team added underbody and suspension protection and a removable rear cage that integrates the race fuel cell and filler, upper light bar and satellite navigation antenna. In addition to these components, Ford Performance had 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. “With the SCORE Baja 1000 this year there’s a lot of pressure,” says Brad Lovell. “This is a big deal. It’s an important program to Ford Motor Company. It’s very important that we execute things safely, professionally and on point with Ford but really, you know, we’re just having fun and if we can have fun within those boundaries and make sure we get to the finish line on time on race day, that’s our mission.” “This is also a very important experience to me to have my son Byam race with me down here. I didn’t just pick him because he’s my son. He has race experience down in Baja as a navigator and a couple SCORE Baja 500 wins. So, this is a pretty neat deal to have him be part of a Ford effort in the SCORE Baja 1000.” One of the challenges for this Ford Ranger Raptor race truck, is that it will be using and testing low carbon biofuel from Shell. This biofuel is a lend which consists of more than 30% sustainably sourced bio components, so logistics on pit stops and getting fuel to the race will be another obstacle facing the team. ““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.” SJ

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