World News – USA – Ford Bronco R cashes in and ends the 2020 Baja 1000 road show

The racing prototype could not beat the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus Boot in the famous off-road race.

Last weekend the Baja 1000 may only have two entries in Class 2, but the competition in Mexican off-road racing was tougher than ever. In last year’s race the Bronco R did not take the checkered flag due to cooling problems. That year the Bronco R came back, completing the 898-mile course in 32 hours, 31 minutes and 21 seconds, but still couldn’t get past Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus’ tribute to Steve McQueen’s Baja boat, who did the same feat in 27 accomplished: 15:46.

This year’s course was very technical, with a lot of mud and narrow stretches. A mountain pass towards the end of the race brought out plenty of rigs while the deep scream of San Felipe challenged even the longest long distance suspensions.

The Bronco R operates Ford’s warehouse 2. 7-liter EcoBoost V6 developing 310 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque mated with a 10-speed automatic transmission. Both the front and rear suspensions are race-ready, however, and the Fox shock absorbers offer a little more travel with bypass dampers and pneumatic stop buffers.

In the meantime, the SCG boot is using a GM source 6. 2-liter V8 with over 400 hp, paired with the four-speed automatic transmission GM 4L80E. The suspension of the boot has 19 inches of travel.

Both rigs had pretty clean races. While the Bronco R had no flats and the only repair on the route was a rack change, the SCG trunk rolled over and was able to carry on with no mechanical problems. However, it damaged one of its 40-inch tires.

Ford used this year’s race for the final validation of the Bronco’s Baja driving mode. The company relies on off-road racing champions like Cameron Steele, Curt LeDuc, Johnny Campbell, Shelby Hall and Jason Scherer, all of whom have piloted the Bronco R, to optimize throttle response and shift patterns in this fast mode of the SUV’s terrain management system.

The SCG shoe is approved for road traffic and obviously tough, but also costs a whopping 258. $ 750. If I had the money I’d consider it, but let’s face it, the Bronco Wildtrak under 50. $ 000 is a bit more real in my bank account.

Class 2 is described as a « combined truck and car class for vehicles and engines without restrictions ». « Once the Bronco goes into production it could move to the Stock Full class, which has a production of 5. 000 units required over a period of 12 months. That would switch its competition to vehicles like the Toyota Land Cruiser, which finished the race in 38:49:48 this year, or the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, which did not make it within the 40-hour time limit finally the finish line.

The Bronco was the first production off-road vehicle to win the Baja 1000 in 1969. Now that Trophy Trucks completed the course in less than 20 hours, he will most likely never do that again. We’ll see what happens in 2021 when the Bronco could switch to Stock Full and the SCG Boot would have no competition at all.

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Baja 1000, Ford Motor Company, James Glickenhaus, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 003