When the engineers at Ford Performance began making final plans to enter a stock 2017 Ford Raptor into one of the most grueling endurance races in the world, the 49th Annual SCORE Baja 1000, the team at Ford knew the company’s Built Ford Tough motto would be put to the test. But the engineering team at Ford have always been up for a good challenge.

The team was fully confident that the new F-150 EcoBoost platform could not only handle the treacherous Baja terrain, but could also provide the team with valuable feedback that would aid in the design of future Ford production vehicles.

Successfully finishing this race would not only raise the bar in EcoBoost performance, but also set the standard for years to come.

I mean, if your vehicle comes from the factory with a Baja Mode built in, you fully expect it to perform as intended right? Well successfully conquering the Baja 1000 is a completely different beast all together. There is just something about Baja that strikes fear into the heart of even the most seasoned drivers.

Veteran racers will tell you that taking on a challenge like the Baja 1000 truly is a love-hate relationship. And this year was no different. The team at Ford Performance along with Foutz Motorsports set out to prove that the new Ford Raptor was worthy and capable of holding the title of being “Baja-ready.”

Since the vehicle’s Detroit debut back in 2015, we have had the opportunity to not only watch, but drive this new Ford Performance vehicle and even took part in the live tracking of the 2017 Raptor as it made its 845.50-mile journey from start to finish at last year’s Baja 1000.

Each year SCORE does an outstanding job covering the event, but unless you are down in Mexico experiencing the event for yourself, you really are missing out on the excitement that is Baja racing. Well, that’s where the FordVR App comes into play.

This app allows fans to get as close to the action as possible from the comfort of your home when you just can’t make it to a live event.

“We are excited to debut this virtual reality story, a first for the all-new Raptor,” said Henry Ford III, Global Marketing Manager of Ford Performance. “This grueling race proves once again that we have the most-capable, production off-road truck in the industry.”

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Ford equipped the 2017 Raptor with the FordVR camera system allowing viewers to experience racing the Baja 1000 from a 360 degree angle. (Photo: Ford Media)

The video Born to Baja allows fans to get behind the driver’s seat of the 2017 Raptor and experience the vehicles journey from the assembly line to right smack in the middle of all the off-road action during the race.

It also allows users to experience many of the same sights and sounds that the Ford Raptor drivers are witnessing as they race through the ever changing terrain of the Baja peninsula.

In the end, the team at Ford Performance/Foutz Motorsports took a stock F-150 Raptor and crossed the finish line successfully proving that with only a few required SCORE modifications, the new 2017 Raptor truly is Baja-ready straight from the factory.

If you haven’t downloaded the FordVR app, you can grab it for iOS and Android devices.