Romain Dumas has tackled many of the world’s biggest races from Le Mans to Pikes Peak and from Dakar to Baja. In November, he will return to the latter for the first time since 2021 when he shares driving duties of Ford Racing’s Ranger Raptor with Bailey Cole.

Dumas raced the Baja 1000 for the first and only time in 2021, when he joined his Le Mans team Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus in their Baja Boot. He split the car with fellow Dakar veteran Darren Skilton and Viry Felix, finishing seventh in Class 1 after being hampered by axle issues.

While he hadn’t raced Baja since, he remained involved in off-road racing by competing in the Dakar Rally and Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He raced the former through 2024, and remains an annual threat at the latter as a five-time champion who last won in 2024. Dumas finished runner-up in the 2025 PPIHC with his Ford Super Mustang Mach-E.

Cole is one of Ford Racing’s top rock crawlers, winning the 2024 Ultra4 4600 title and finishing runner-up at this year’s Every Man Challenge. Over the summer, he went to Thailand to try out rally raid for the first time. He placed third overall and won the T2-D class at the Asia Cross Country Rally in August with his Ranger Raptor.

He won the 2019 Baja 1000 in Class 7F as well as that year’s SCORE class title. At the 2024 1000, he was part of Cole Johnson’s SXOR team that topped the Hammer Truck class.

The Ranger Raptor is Ford Racing’s primary desert racer that has enjoyed success with Brad Lovell. Wayne Israelsen, Amy Wildwaters, and Luis Estrada will also be on COle and Dumas’ team.

“The Ford program is top notch and Brad Lovell is doing a great job in running it,” said JT Taylor. He will serve as the crew chief during Cole’s stint before being Dumas’ co-driver. “Let’s make some dust!!!”

Featured image credit: JT Taylor