Ford Racing hopes to have Carlos Sainz back in 2027, but if he chooses not to return, Matthias Walkner appears to be their top candidate. MARCA reported Sunday that Walkner is on the Blue Oval’s radar to drive a factory Raptor if a spot opens up with Sainz’s departure.

Even if Sainz decides to stay, MARCA explained Walkner will still get to race a Raptor as a pseudo-privateer. This would be a similar arrangement to what Denis Krotov and Jourdan Serderidis have, competing outside of Ford Racing and M-Sport but still having factory-level support.

Walkner won the Dakar Rally in 2018 on a bike as well as the 2015 and 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championships. However, his riding career virtually ended after a massive accident in December 2023 while training for the 2024 Dakar that resulted in severe leg injuries.

It took the Austrian over a year to recover before he could ride again. He has done some brief guest appearances on a bike like the Erzbergrodeo and Red Bull Romaniacs, albeit nothing too substantial or competition related.

On the other hand, he’s been gradually making the shift to driving. In July, he raced the Ennstal-Classic in a Mini Cooper.

MARCA also noted Ford had nearly signed another former Dakar bike winner-turned-driver in Toby Price before he went to Toyota. Price and Walkner were teammates at Red Bull KTM.

Featured image credit: Attila Szabo / Red Bull Content Pool