Ford Racing brings four crews to Morocco with Dakar podiums, stage wins and two seasons of hard-earned experience behind them.
Rallye du Maroc is the next round of the 2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship and a key stop on Ford Racing’s road to Dakar 2027. Four Ford Racing Raptor T1+ crews will take the start, each bringing a different kind of experience to a team chasing its first overall rally-raid victory.
Ford Racing finished second and third overall at the 2026 Dakar Rally and collected six stage wins across its factory effort. Since then, its crews have continued to race and develop the Raptor T1+ in World Rally-Raid Championship competition and, for one American pairing, on home soil. Morocco brings all four crews together again.
Carlos Sainz and Daniel Oliveras
Carlos Sainz brings four Dakar victories and decades of rally experience to the Ford Racing lineup. He and co-driver Lucas Cruz finished fifth overall at the 2026 Dakar Rally, giving Ford three factory Raptors in the top five. For the remainder of his 2026 campaign, Sainz has partnered with Daniel “Dani” Oliveras.
The new pairing has already shown its pace, taking a stage victory at Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina. Sainz and Oliveras arrive in Morocco with more time together in the Raptor T1+ and another opportunity to turn stage-winning speed into a strong overall result.
Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist
Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist finished third overall at the 2026 Dakar Rally, completing Ford Racing’s double podium. Ekström also delivered some of the team’s fastest stage performances during the event, drawing on a career that spans rallycross, touring cars and rally raid.
With Bergkvist managing the route beside him, Ekström heads to Morocco as a proven contender in the Raptor T1+. The challenge across five stages will be to pair that speed with the consistency needed to fight for the rally’s overall result.
Nani Roma and Alex Haro
Nani Roma and Alex Haro led Ford Racing at Dakar 2026, finishing second overall. It was Roma’s first Dakar podium in seven years, adding another chapter to a career that includes victories in both the motorcycle and car categories.
Their Dakar result came from staying in contention over two demanding weeks, a strength that matters in Morocco as much as outright stage speed. Roma and Haro have continued their season in the Raptor T1+ since January and now return to a rally that will help measure the team’s progress before Dakar 2027.
Mitch Guthrie Jr. and Kellon Walch
Mitch Guthrie Jr. and Kellon Walch give Ford Racing an all-American crew at the highest level of international rally raid. They won a stage and earned multiple stage podiums at Dakar 2026, helping establish the Raptor T1+ as a contender throughout the event.
Their season also took the Raptor T1+ somewhere new. At Vegas to Reno in August, Guthrie and Walch finished second overall in the truck’s first race on American soil and its first competition outside international rally raid. Morocco brings them back to the World Rally-Raid Championship with experience gained on both sides of the Atlantic.
One team, another test
Rallye du Maroc gives Ford Racing four chances to compete at the front and one shared opportunity to learn. The drivers and co-drivers will face the stages; the wider Ford Racing and M-Sport team will use what they discover to keep developing the Raptor T1+.
After a Dakar double podium, further stage success and a strong showing in the truck’s American debut, the objective in Morocco is clear: secure the top step.
