Ford Thailand announced a partnership with legendary racing team Feeliq Innovation Motorsport to conquer the 2023 Asia Cross Country Championship (AXCR) with the new generation Ranger Raptor.
The event comes just months after the new-generation Ranger Raptor conquered the SCORE-International 2022 Baja 1000 and won the Production Vehicle class at the Finke Desert Race in Australia.
Ranger Raptor will compete from August 13, 2023 to August 19, 2023 and must overcome a distance of more than 2,000 km, spanning two countries, with the starting point in Pattaya, Thailand and the destination in Pakse, Laos.
Ranger Raptor #124 race car in AXCR 2023
Led by Michael Freeman, the Feeliq Innovation Motorsport team has a rich history and track record in motorsport , with over 10 championships since 2012. In 2023, the team will be sponsored by Ford Thailand with a high-performance Ranger Raptor and supporting components to compete. This partnership takes full advantage of the team's expertise in tuning and handling with the Raptor's unprecedented off-road performance and handling, thus creating the premise for the Ranger Raptor to confidently compete in the Asian Cross Country Championship in Thailand.
As a team director with over thirty years of racing experience, Freeman has won numerous races himself, including the recent overall championship at TA2 Thailand 2018 in his #55 Ford Mustang. This time, Freeman will be driving the #124 Ranger Raptor in the 2023 AXCR alongside navigator Chaiya Chommalee – a professional racing expert with over forty years of experience.
“I feel very honored and excited to have the opportunity to participate in this race. This is my first cross-country race and participating in this class has been a dream of mine for a long time. I am very grateful to have established this partnership with Ford Thailand, and at this time. From our experience and training, we have seen how mentally challenging it is compared to circuit racing. The drivers will need to use all five senses and focus to get through the stages. Our goal this time is to gain as much experience as possible and to get through the race perfectly without making any mistakes,” said Freeman.
Raptor has been equipped with race-required seat belts and roll bars
In addition, the Raptor has been equipped with seat belts and anti-roll bars as required by the race. Other equipment added includes: New BF Goodrich tires for extremely harsh terrain conditions, mud flaps, reinforced underbody as well as spare tire and winch installed in the bed. The car uses Code Orange paint to clearly show the Ford Performance DNA, the team also fine-tuned FOX TM shock absorbers, while maximizing the power of the original 2.0L twin-turbo diesel engine, turning the Ranger Raptor into a specialized pickup truck for off-road racing.
The New Generation Ford Ranger Raptor #124 will compete in the Asian Production Vehicle (T2A) class at AXCR, which requires race cars to retain their original factory engines and parts.
The Asian Cross Country Rally is currently the largest cross-country rally event in Asia. Approved by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand (RAAT) and the 360 Degree Sports Motorcycle Club, it is considered the toughest test for off-road vehicles in the region. The racing teams will be challenged on a variety of terrains from mountains, swamps, sand, plantations, asphalt and even standard race tracks. Along with the unpredictable climate in Asia, all these factors will be a test of the level of the racers and engineers, as well as proving the capabilities of the participating cars.
Vietnam.vn
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