Ford South Africa reveals the 2025 NWM Rally-Raid Championship Ranger: performance meets innovation

Ford South Africa has lifted the cover off the new Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) Rally-Raid Championship Ranger for the 2025 season with a new livery and also renewed their partnership with Castrol EDGE lubricants.

“Motorsport is one of our key brand-building pillars for the Ford Ranger, emphasising this proudly South African-built bakkie’s exceptional capabilities, quality and reliability, along with its ongoing sales success in the popular double-cab segment.

"It captures the essence of our Live the Ranger Life brand proposition that embodies living without limits, driving innovation and technology, and embracing Ford’s community of passionate Ranger owners in South Africa,” said Tarryn Knight, General Manager of Marketing at Ford South Africa.

“For Castrol, the 2025 season reunites this legendary lubricants brand with NWM at the highest level of rally-raid competition. “The partnership between Castrol and Neil Woolridge Motorsport is a strategic alliance aimed at enhancing the capabilities and competitive edge of NWM's rally-raid team,” said Jennifer Heyes, Castrol’s Marketing Director for Africa.

Coming on as fuel sponsor is bp Ultimate with ACTIVE Technology.

The rest of the sponsors for the team are Vedacit, Ford Credit, Mastercraft Tools, Sparco and Veldskoen, along with technical partners Brembo, NTN and Tiger Wheel & Tyre.

Teams

The 2025 SARRC season is scheduled to commence on 27 and 28 June near Thabazimbi, Limpopo, following the postponement of the opening round in March in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, due to flooding.

Leading the charge for the team this year are Gareth Woolridge and navigator Boyd Dreyer who have been together since 2014 racing in various categories including a seventh-place finish on the final stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally in the locally designed and built NWM Ranger Ultimate.

They secured the overall SARRC Production Vehicle and Class T1+ (now ‘Ultimate’) championship titles in 2023, scoring three wins and six podium finishes from seven rounds.

Although they weren’t able to mount a solid title defence last year, they are looking to make amends in 2025.

Brazilians

Joining them are the Brazilian crew of Marcos Baumgart and Kleber Cincea in a second Castrol NWM Ford Ranger Ultimate.

The pair have raced here on several occasions since 2018 and have five and three Brazilian Cross Country Championship titles respectively for drivers and navigators.

They won the South American championship in 2019, and also the 2020 Rally dos Sertões, along with numerous runner-up finishes to their credit from 22 starts in the event.

The Brazilian pair have competed in two Dakar Rally races, starting in 2019, where they finished sixth overall in the side-by-side vehicle (SSV) category, and they took on the Dakar again in 2024 in the Ultimate class. They also contested the full World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) last year.

New class

There will also be a third car this year as a NWM-supported privateer team piloted by Wors Prinsloo and Andre Vermeulen.

They have been a regular feature on the circuit since 2020 with the V8-powered NWM Ranger in Class T and then moving to the premier T1+ category in 2023, finishing 10th overall but last year their season was cut short due to business commitments.

They will be competing in a slightly different South African-specification Ultimate/T1+ class that is designed to be more affordable for teams compared to the full FIA category. Based on the SARRC regulations used in 2024, the vehicle’s performance is controlled using a Motec engine management system.

Woolridge/Dreyer and Baumgart/Cincea will be competing in the top-tier FIA Ultimate/T1+ class. The vehicles are equipped with boost loggers to meet the full international FIA-specification performance control rules.

The NWM Rally-Raid Championship Ranger is built in Pietermaritzburg in KZN and is powered by Ford’s EcoBoost 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine. Power output is strictly controlled according to the rally-raid regulations and has a minimum weight requirement of 2 010kg.

“Motorsport is a process of continuous evolution, and we have taken the lessons from last year and improved the package from front to back. The team has done a lot of work during the off-season to refine and enhance the cars, making them more robust and more capable.

“We are confident that the team will be in a position to fight for race wins and the championship once again this year,” said  NWM team principal, Neil Woolridge.