As M-Sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsport continue development of their Ford Ranger T1+ ahead of its planned début at the 2024 Dakar Rally, the project recently enlisted two-time winner Nani Roma to test the vehicle. Speaking with DirtFish, M-Sport owner Malcolm Wilson revealed multiple drivers are candidates to drive the Ranger in 2024, so much so that “there are more people knocking on our door than there is in WRC.”
The Ranger was revealed in 2022 with hopes of racing the 2023 Dakar Rally, but supply chain worries and snags in testing resulted in the start being postponed. With another year to iron out any wrinkles, the project continues testing with the hope of racing in 2024 though it is dependent on the results presented.
NWM has overseen most testing in their native South Africa, though M-Sport has also been heavily involved. Unlike the blue truck used in initial testing, the test Ranger features a camouflage livery.
Two Ranger T1+ trucks compete in the South African Rally-Raid Championship with Neil Woolridge’s sons Gareth and Lance Woolridge. The former finished runner-up overall to the Toyota DKR Hilux T1+ of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan in the season-opening Nkomazi 400 in March; the DKR Hilux T1+, produced by South Africa’s SVR Hallspeed, is the top truck in rally raid today, having won the last two Dakar Rallies.
Roma won the Dakar Rally on a bike in 2004 followed by a four-wheel triumph in 2014. In 2021, he helped develop the new Prodrive Hunter and finished fifth at Dakar for Bahrain Raid Xtreme. After crashing out of the 2022 edition, he took a hiatus from racing to focus on bladder cancer treatment. Despite recovering by the end of the year, the timetable for return was too close for him to enter the 2023 Dakar Rally, ending his twenty-six-year streak of running the race.
Should the effort succeed, the Ranger will join a growing field of vehicles in the T1+ subcategory from 2024 onwards. Besides the Hilux and Hunter, WCT Engineering has developed a Hilux T1+ variant that is simpler than the Hallspeed counterpart while fellow South African outfit Red-Lined Motorsport has the new REVO T1+; the WCT Hilux and REVO T1+ finished 1–2 in The Inland Off Road Championship opener in March.
Other drivers have not been revealed, though DirtFish‘s report notes “three cars” are planned and that some World Rally Championship drivers have expressed interest. Current World Rally-Raid Championship T3 points leader Seth Quintero has also been linked to the ride but avoided confirming any move when questioned by DirtFish at Dakar.
