João Navarro is one of Carlos Sainz’s most trusted people and his main engineer. Since they joined the Mini X-Raid in 2019, Carlos has explicitly requested that Joao accompany him every time he changes teams. It happened with Audi’s highly complex electrification project. And once again, he asked Joan to challenge Ford. Deltebre, who is familiar with Matador’s new Raptor T1+, was responsible for showing Sportish the specialness and novelty of the car’s evolution ahead of Dakar 2026.

“We call this car the Ford Raptot EVO, which is an evolution of the Dakar from last year’s car,” recalls João, stressing that the main novelty this year was the refinement of several details of the car to achieve further weight savings, reducing the car’s total weight by around 40 kilograms. This “reduced the weight at the top,” making it easier to lower the car’s center of gravity.

“We have a weight limit in Dakar, and this 40 kg weight reduction allows us to play with the aluminum plate, which is the protection in the lower and middle part of the car. We worked with its thickness, making it thicker to increase the weight and comply with the mandatory limit, and at the same time further strengthen the car underneath. Therefore, the weight is as low as possible and concentrated to reduce inertia.”

All this is achieved through systematic work on many parts of the car. For example, the windshield was replaced with a new Lexan windshield. This is a lighter material, but also more resistant to the impact it might receive from branches or stones thrown up by other cars. “This allowed us to reduce the weight by 7 kg. We added weight that was previously on top of the car, now under the car,” he exclaimed to the MD. “It’s very resistant and works very well. I didn’t trust it at the beginning of the year, but yes, it performs great.”

Another notable newness in this sense is the mirror. This car has no mirrors! These come with two small rear cameras inserted into the aerodynamic shape of the body without interfering with drag performance. Cameras are placed on the left and right, and when the doors are lowered, the shape of the rearview mirror does not get in the way, allowing you to see the aerodynamic lines of the front and rear. From inside the cabin, the pilot controls what’s happening behind him through interior screens, one for each camera, which act as rearview mirrors. Two small screens in the central part of the car’s control area.

Aerodynamics thought out to the smallest detail

Another important aspect is the aerodynamic improvements that are visible to the naked eye. “This is a lower car with no roof fins, and we made the rear much shorter and lighter. The previous car was longer and much lower at the rear, which broke down and created inertia,” he said of the rear side parts of the vehicle. The roof was also made flat to reduce weight.

Improved cushioning properties

“Another very important new thing is in the shock absorbers. You can’t tell the difference at first glance, but the shock absorbers are much lighter and above all the more developed shock absorbers allow you to drive faster on bumps and curves, giving you more grip and traction. In general, the car performs better,” he claimed.

inside the engine too

“There are three big innovations: aerodynamics, shock absorbers and weight, but there are also smaller innovations. And there is also the engine. We won with the engine. The management of the engine power is done electronically. If you exceed the maximum power allowed for the car, there is a penalty. If you exceed it, you always have to go below it. And this electronic management has also evolved in response to that,” said Joan.

Important details. velcro for doors

In addition, Carlos Sainz’s car hides other important features. Inside, João Navarro shows off the Velcro next to the cockpit. This can be hooked to a rope hanging from the door to keep it closed if the door is broken. This eliminates the need to face the stage with the door open.

And the lower part of the car is equipped with an automatic hydraulic lift, which is already present in all luxury cars. This element is a bar that moves downwards from the vehicle and lifts it up when the driver or co-pilot presses a button. It is used when changing wheels or when a car gets stuck in a sand dune, and can speed up this process to minimize time loss in races.

João also stressed that they are trying to speed up the work of car mechanics and drivers. An example of this would be a door that needs to be opened to remove the spare tire, which is easier to open that way. The pilot and co-pilot doors have also been improved. “It’s a gullwing. The other door opens forward, and this door is easy to get in and out of. The old door could break, but this new door won’t break in the wind.”

While the evolution is clear, rivals Toyota and Dacia have also improved, making it a very even battle between them in the unpredictable Dakar. No one knows who will win, but Joan couldn’t help but smile when asked on the day before the start of the Dakar how proud she was of her work. “Very much. And it’s even more of an honor to be a part of this team and to be with this great pilot.”concluded that he was an important man for Carlos to continue competing.

Without it, you wouldn’t do it because you wouldn’t have to adapt to new ways of working with new people. Carlos wants Joan at Ford and wouldn’t have accepted this challenge last year if it wasn’t for him. Navarro was key to Sainz’s victories in the 2020 and 2024 Dakar. Together they want to touch glory again with their fingers.