Ford Bronco R finishes 2020 Baja 1000 off-road motorsport race

Ford had recently announced the return of the Bronco R to the next SCORE Baja 1000 off-road motorsport race. Now, the SUV has finished the 53rd SCORE of the motorsport in Class 2 in just over 32 hours, adding to its storied history at Baja dating back to 1967.

The 1,000-mile desert race was piloted by Cameron Steele, Shelby Hall and a team of veteran Ford off-road racers. They were accompanied by co-drivers Johnny Campbell, Curt LeDuc and Jason Scherer.

The Bronco R Race prototype is powered by a fully stock 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine and a 10-speed SelectShift automatic transmission. It serves as the testbed for Bronco Built Wild Extreme Testing durability regimen and for the final Baja Mode calibrations for the Terrain Management System with G.O.A.T. Modes on the production versions.

A pre-production 2021 Bronco two-door Outer Banks series with off-road package also made its first appearance in the Baja Mexico desert race.

Ford says Bronco R's successful finish highlights the brand's performance legacy at Baja desert race which also includes the first-ever overall production 4x4 class win in 1969 Baja 1000.

The first-generation Bronco models won five Baja 1000 races in 1967, '69, '69, '71 and '72 and claimed two overall Baja 500 victories in 1970 and 1973. Later model year Broncos (1978-95) continued the winning streak with nine Baja 500 Class 3 wins from 2004 to 2015 and 15 Baja 1000 Class 3 wins between 2002 to 2019.

Ford is the official truck and SUV of SCORE-International off-road racing and lead sponsor of the SCORE World Desert Challenge Series, which includes the 2019-22 SCORE Baja 1000 races.