Ford Performance is returning to its former identity as Ford Racing, the manufacturer announced on Thursday. The changes take place effective immediately, but the “full new Ford Racing identity” will debut at the 2026 Dakar Rally in January.

Ford Racing was long the name used by the Blue Oval’s factory motorsports division. In 2015, Ford Racing was consolidated with Ford Team RS and the Special Vehicle Team into a high-performance arm to create Ford Performance.

The Ford Racing brand was also notably used for Ford’s officially licensed series of video games in the 2000s. The third installment’s manual proclaimed the game “puts you in the driving seat of a wide range of real Ford vehicles, from world-changing legends like the Model T to future classics like the spectacular new 2005 Ford Mustang GT. As well as road-going classic and modern cars we’ve also included rugged off-road trucks, famous cars from the movies and amazing concept vehicles like the Mustang GT-R Concept.” Not every vehicle in the game would’ve fallen under Ford Racing’s jurisdiction in real life, but higher performance ones certainly would.

Will Ford, the general manager of Ford Racing and a fifth-generation member of the family, explained in a statement that the rebrand is intended to better reflect the company’s motorsports heritage under a more direct name. However, the division remains involved on the roadgoing side as well.

“This is the wholesale reintroduction of our racing brand and signals a completely new way of thinking about the business, brand, and products that our racing efforts bring to life,” Ford explained.

“Our new Ford Racing organization will bring our road and race operations closer than ever before. Under one global leader, our super-talented engineers, designers and aerodynamicists will find innovative solutions for the track and bring them to our road products – and vice versa. All this is being done to bring the best products, technologies, and experiences to our customers. ​

“This name change re-emphasizes our core mission, our racing heritage, and simplifies our branding back to our competitive roots. It reminds people of why we race – to infuse the technological innovation and passion we derive from racing, and winning, into the products that our customers can drive every day.​”

On the off-road side, Ford Racing supports a wide array of programs. Brad Lovell predominantly drives the Ranger in desert racing, while RTR Vehicles Off-Road Team has Broncos that are used in Ultra4.

Ford also fields the Raptor at Dakar and other rally raids in partnership with M-Sport.

Featured image credit: Justin Nguyen