Almost half year ahead one of the most difficult motorsport competitions in the world, Ford already has the pilots and the plan of introducing two Ranger units, especially personalized for the Dakar rally.
The information was officially confirmed yesterday, when we also found out that the Ford units should be developed and assembled in South Africa, with the help of Neil Woolridge Motorsport group.
If you are curious about the names that Ford picked for 2014 Dakar, we are talking about Chris Visser and Lucio Alvarez, two names with a special resonance in the history of this rally and with promising chances to bring a certain title for the car maker.
So far, we know that one of the two Ford units will carry a Mustang V8 engine with 500-litre capacity tank, liquid-cooled rear brakes and a sequential gearbox in six speed steps.
Unofficial information suggests that Ford may have its V8 engines at 5.0 liters and limit their capacity to 559 Nm of torque respectively 350 HP.
Dakar rally should evolve at the beginning of the year, 5 – 8th of January, covering over 8.000 km, from Argentina all the way to Chile. Ford is definitely going to have a tough fight, given the fact that hundreds of competitors join the race every year!