In the hearts of off-road enthusiasts around the world, the Baja 1000 Extreme Cross Country Race is the pinnacle of off-road racing alongside the Dakar Cross Country Rally. Derived from the American off-road culture, the Baja 1000 is extremely wild, hot-blooded and savage, fully worthy of the title of "the most demonic off-road event on the surface", it has inspired many legendary off-road riders, as well as powerful off-road racing cars, it is simply the "world's heavyweight boxing championship" in the off-road world. Among them, the Ford Ranger shines with many lights, whether it is a modified race car or a new production car, it is constantly conquering the racing field and is famous around the world.
Baja 1000, with "madness" as the norm
The Baja 1000 was created in 1967, 12 years before the Dakar Rally. Located on the California Peninsula in Baja, Mexico, it is about 1,600 kilometers long, passing through desert deserts, rocky flats, dry rivers, mountains and canyons, and other terrain conditions, which is more difficult than Dakar.
The Baja 1000 has few restrictions on participating vehicles, it allows different types of vehicles to compete on the same track, but requires safety, and does not limit performance. The rules are also simple: 1,000 miles in one go, up to 34 hours, the shortest time wins!
In addition to the extremely harsh terrain, the most amazing thing about the Baja 1000 is that the spectators along the way will deliberately increase the difficulty of the race, they will create steep slopes along the way, dig deep pits, set up complex barricades, and even deliberately throw tires to "secretly calculate" the racing cars and drivers, in addition, the wild horses, goats, and cattle that appear at any time in the wilderness also test the performance of the car and the driver's concentration.
Competitors need to maintain a high degree of vigilance while continuing to run wildly at an average speed of more than 150km/h, and the wheels are even in the "flying" state for nearly half of the time, which requires the participating vehicles to have sufficient power, extremely strong durability and strong passing ability, and only the strongest off-road machines can survive this brutal race. Ford showed unparalleled prowess in this kind of race with a finish rate of only 50-60%, and at one point made the championship ownership unsuspenseful.
Ford Ranger, the legendary pickup truck that conquered the world from the Baja 1000
Since the inception of the 1000 Baja Race, Ford has used this "doorstep" race as a testing ground for its own hardcore models. To date, the Ford Pickup has won 23 championships in the 1000 Baja, while the Ford Bronco, Ford F-150 Raptor and Ford Ranger have also achieved great results in all categories of the competition, often appearing on the podium. The Ford Ranger, in particular, has won the 1,000 Baja multiple races with legendary driver Manny Esquerra, who is known as the "King of the Desert."
On November 18, 2022, unlike the Baja 1000 that competed in heavily modified vehicles in the past, Ford won the championship of its category with its Raptor production model based on the fifth-generation Ranger, which was witnessed by off-road enthusiasts around the world, and only achieved a time of 26 hours and 21 minutes in original condition.
For Ford, the pioneer and leader of pickup trucks, it is not surprising that the world's first mass-produced pickup truck introduced in 1925, and the classic Ford Ranger, which has a history of 41 years and has undergone five iterations, stand out in the harsh terrain of the Baja 1000. Ford has been manufacturing professional pickup trucks for nearly 100 years.
The reason why the Ford pickup truck has become a legend in the pickup industry is mainly because of its "Built Ford Tough" brand, which has made the F series pickup truck continue to be the national sales champion for 46 years, and the Ford Ranger has also adopted this ultra-high test, quality and safety standards, and participated in rigorous races such as the Baja 1000, establishing its ultra-hardcore reliability and safety. In terms of durability, the Ford Ranger is 30% more than the industry standard, and a single vehicle must undergo more than 1.5 million kilometers of rigorous research and circle the earth 40 times; In terms of safety, it has obtained the highest active/passive safety standard certification for NCAP pickup truck models worldwide, and its safety performance is first-class.
With its hardcore performance in off-road events such as the Baja 1000, and its strong ability to meet a variety of user use cases, Ford Ranger has won the favor of users around the world, with cumulative global sales of more than 8 million units and sales in more than 180 regions. In recent years, Ford Ranger has also won world-renowned automotive awards such as the UK Pickup Truck of the Year, the Swedish International Pickup Truck Award, the Australian Passenger Car of the Year Award, the Australian ANCAP Five Star and the Malaysia Pickup Gold Award.
Adhering to the spirit of Ford's "pioneer innovation", Jiangling Ford Technology has always been user-centric, and strives to bring Ford's global iconic pickup products to the domestic market and users. The world's iconic mid-size pickup Ford Ranger is about to land in the domestic market in the form of domestic production, bringing a powerful and ultimate off-road experience to domestic users, so stay tuned!