Ford’s Bronco has a long, illustrious history at Baja going all the way back to 1967. And now that the all-new 2021 Bronco is soon making its way to dealerships, a prototype race version of the resurrected 4x4 machine made its return to the desert. Just as you'd expect, it made Ford’s engineers proud.
The Bronco R Race Prototype, driven by Cameron Steele, Shelby Hall and a team of veteran off-road racers, finished the 53rd SCORE-International Baja 1000 in Class 2 last week in only 32 hours. The success was a milestone for the pilots and their co-drivers (Johnny Campbell, Curt LeDuc and Jason Scherer), as well as a clear indication of the superiority of the Bronco brand and Ford’s engineering. The race prototype was powered by a stock 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine and Ford 10-speed SelectShift automatic transmission. It was further bolstered by the “Baja Mode†of the Terrain Management System, which will also be seen on the final production versions.
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“When Bronco returned we said it would follow in the legacy of the first-generation Broncos that forever changed the off-road landscape – and today’s finish demonstrates we’re continuing the ‘Built Wild’ pedigree of Bronco,†said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance motorsports.
A pre-production 2021 Bronco two-door Outer Banks model also made its first appearance at Baja. That trim and others will become available to consumers early next year.
