The Ford Performance Ranger Raptor has taken out the Production 4WD class at Australia’s most grueling race, with the father-and-son team of Brad and Byam Lovell.
Ford Performance is on quite the roll when it comes to off road titles, having snatched the Baja 1000 late last year and now setting a record-breaking time for the Tatts Finke Production 4WD class.
Brad and Byam Lovell of Lovell Racing finished the return journey from Alice Springs to Finke in 5 hours, 56 minutes and 30 seconds, with the Ranger Raptor setting a new class record for the 226km sprint from Finke to Alice Springs in 2 hours, 51 minutes and 18 seconds.
Vehicle servicing and logistical support were provided to Ford Performance by Walkinshaw Performance, the sister company of the Supercars team, Walkinshaw Andretti United.
The man behind the wheel, Brad Lovell, said that “the Ranger Raptor pushed hard the whole time; it took everything we dished out”.
“The whoops out there are getting huge,” he added, “I’m not sure how many suspension cycles we were doing per mile, but it has got to be a record.”
“The Finke Desert Race is Australia’s toughest off-road race, set in what’s almost the spiritual home of the Ranger Raptor,” says Ford Performance Motorsports’ Mark Rushbrook.
“The Finke track, and terrain around Alice Springs was a key proving ground for the Ford Performance and Ford Australia engineering teams as we developed the Ranger Raptor,” he added.
