Father-son duo take on Finke in a Ford Ranger Raptor

The Ford Ranger Raptor took on the Finke Desert Race, one of the most brutal off-road challenges on Earth, manned by a father-son duo, Brad Lovell and Byam Lovell.

Byam and Brad Lovell with the Ford Ranger Raptor at Finke

It hardly sounds like a fair fight - the corporate might of Ford Motor Company and it’s brand new, purpose-built Ranger Raptor versus… a couple of blokes who’d brought an old Mitsubishi Triton, and another private entry, a Toyota LandCruiser 76 Series.

But who said motor sport was meant to be fair? The fact is, of course, that the Finke Desert Race, one of the most brutal off-road challenges on Earth, isn’t so much about fighting your competitors as it is about taking on the landscape - 226km of unforgiving outback terrain from Alice Springs to Finke - and keeping your vehicle in one, still-moving piece.

Last weekend, Ford entered its heavily favoured Ranger Raptor in the ‘Production’ class of this year’s Finke Desert Race, a class that featured just those two other cars.

To conquer ‘The Finke’ (as it’s known to locals) the driver, co-driver and vehicle need to cross the most wickedly unforgiving course, filled with sand, dust, dunes and whoops - undulations in the road that turn into jumps at racing speed. Things break, mainly the bones of the motorcyclists who also attempt The Finke, and a lot of vehicles don’t make it. Some years, more than two thirds of the trucks and buggies entered don’t reach the finish line.

Oh, and once you’ve done that, you need to turn around and do it again the next day. That’s 452km of torture, for both men and machines.

Which is why Ford drafted in one of the most experienced off-road racers in the business to take on this enormous task. Brad Lovell is an American off-road racing expert with championships in desert racing, rock crawling and short-course truck racing - in other words, he can drive just about anything off-road.

Brad Lovell and his son Byam made the return from Finke to Alice Springs in just 2 hours 51 minutes, which is a new record for the one-way run, and a major achievement for Ford

His co-driver for the event was his 16-year-old son, Byam, who may be young but has grown up around off-roading his entire life, so is no stranger to the challenges of racing through the desert.

The father-son team was part of the crew that drove the same Ranger Raptor in the Baja 1000 in Mexico in November, 2022, so they were the perfect pair to handle duties in Finke.

Despite the Finke Desert Race being a much shorter affair than Baja’s 1000-mile course, it was still a challenging race for the Ford duo. A loose suspension bolt caused delays on the run from Alice Springs to Finke, which ultimately cost them the overall production class record time, which was set back in 2009 when the course was freshly graded, allowing for a faster run.

Still, the Lovells managed to make the return from Finke to Alice Springs in just 2 hours 51 minutes, which is a new record for the one-way run - a major achievement for Ford.

What makes it so impressive is that the Ranger Raptor entered in Finke featured only some small changes from showroom specification. Regulations allow for modifications for safety (including a roll-cage) and the fitment of a larger 160-litre fuel cell, as well as taller off-road tyres for more ground clearance and some underbody protection, but the engine, transmission and suspension are all the same as found on the standard Ranger Raptor.

To highlight this, we were able to explore the outback in our own Ranger Raptor while the Lovells were preparing for their run to and from Finke. The desert outside of Alice Springs is stunning to look at, with expansive views in every direction, but the terrain can be brutal on cars.

Once you get off the paved roads there are seemingly endless unsealed tracks to explore, but you need a tough vehicle to do that in.

This is where the Ranger Raptor shines, because for all of its performance credentials - a twin-turbo V6 engine and race-spec shocks - this is a ute that can take on any off-road conditions.

There are driving modes for sand, mud, rocks and snow, and while we didn’t encounter any snow in the outback, we had plenty of sand, mud, rocks and dust to contend with.

At $86,790 the Ranger Raptor is a very expensive ute, costing more than $30,000 above the entry-level XL dual-cab variant. We were able to drive the pair back-to-back and for off-road adventures the Raptor feels like it’s worth every dollar.

On the rocky outback trails, the XL will get the job done and can go most places the Raptor can, but you’ll bounce and buck around in the cabin and if you’re not driving carefully your passengers will be shot into the roof.

In contrast, the Fox Shocks in the Raptor do an amazing job of soaking up the bumps in the track better, it’s still not a smooth ride but it absorbs so many of the undulations you and your passengers will feel much more comfortable.

Then there’s the Raptor’s real party trick - high-speed off-road performance. With the exception of the more expensive RAM 1500 TRX, no other ute can compete with the Raptor when it comes to having fun in the desert. There are plenty that are very capable of climbing over rocks or crawling through mud, but none of them can match the Raptor at speed.

On a remote patch of desert sand and mud, we were able to unleash the Raptor’s ‘Baja mode’, a setting that dials up maximum performance on loose surfaces. This allows you to slide and drift the Raptor like a sports car, making you feel like you’re Brad Lovell on the way to Finke.

This is a growing part of Australian off-road driving culture, especially judging by the amount of Ranger Raptors in the spectator carpark for the Finke, and Ford is using its entry in the desert race to continue to promote this new way of enjoying yourself in every driving environment.

So while Ford has said the Ranger Raptor that has now completed both the Baja 1000 and Finke Desert Race is headed for a well-earned retirement in Ford’s museum, the Ranger isn’t done with off-road racing yet.

Fresh from the Finke finish, Ford’s global motorsports boss Mark Rushbrook announced that the Ranger will take on the toughest off-road race of them all - the two-week Dakar Rally. A purpose-built racing version of the Ranger will take on the dunes of Saudi Arabia in January next year to put the ute to the ultimate test.