After one and a half years in the Toyota Hilux, Eryk Goczał has made the switch to the Ford Raptor. His first race in the new car will be the Baja Aragón in July, after which he will finish out the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship season.

The rest of Energylandia Rally Team, like his dad Marek and uncle Michał, will also change to Ford.

“With next year’s Dakar Rally in mind, we decided to make this change, and I couldn’t be happier,” said Goczał. “I truly believe this is the best project in the world, not only because of the car itself, but also because of the professionalism and commitment of everyone involved.”

The 2023 Dakar T4 winner moved up to the Ultimate class in 2025, racing a Hilux Overdrive for the family-run Energylandia Rally Team. He scored a stage win in his debut at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge en route to an 11th in Ultimate, and placed eighth at the Rallye du Maroc.

Three races into the 2026 W2RC, he is currently tied with new Ford teammate Carlos Sainz for ninth in points. He finished 17th in the Dakar Dakar with a win in Stage 9, seventh at the Rally-Raid Portugal, and tenth in the Desafío Ruta 40 which began with a Stage 1 victory. All three events have seen him show solid pace only to be upended by some sort of mechanical issue like a broken differential at Dakar, electrical problems in Portugal, and losing fourth gear and a driveshaft in Argentina.

M-Sport builds Raptors for Ford Racing but also offers them to privateers like Martin Prokop and Denis Krotov. Romain Dumas, the newly crowned Pikes Peak winner and a Ford factory racer, also fields the Raptor under his RD Limited banner for Kees Koolen. Goczał recently tested with the team in Morocco.

Featured image credit: Eryk Goczał