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You might only be aware of Ken Block from driving James May around or from his interweb phenomena Gymkhana videos, but he's now lining up a proper World Rally Championship drive from next season.
According to a piece in this week's Autosport, Block's management have brokered a deal which will see him, and former Subaru WRC driver Chris Atkinson, in Monster Energy Drink-sponsored 2009-spec Ford Focus WRCs for half of the events next year, followed by a full season in 2011.
Not only will this be a great thing for Block, but it's also likely that the WRC series will use Ken's superstar status to break into North America, which it has been after for years.
It's intriguing to wonder how Block, a California native, got into such a European sport in the first place. But at the X-Games earlier this year, he told us how he's not some flash in the pan fanboy:
"I've been a rally fan since I was a little kid. Ever since I could get my hands on my parents' keys, I was sliding cars around on the dirt, jumping it - I was even arrested for jumping my car when I was 17.
"The first year I raced, I got rookie of the year and fourth in the championship. Racing rally is a gnarly sport - it takes years and years of practice and development, and you don't get better unless you really work hard at it. I've put in a lot of effort to be the best driver that I can be."
If you're still not convinced Block's up to the job of driving top-flight rally races, then watch this:
Open Car Bar
What do you think?
Want to comment on this?
Mikeado commented on this article
at 02:48 pm on 16 October 2009
"Gymkhana Hero" - I would buy that game! I hope he does well, but I bet he's a bit dissapointed, or in Californian, "totally bummed" that Subaru aren't in WRC anymore though.
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Nakke commented on this article
at 04:00 pm on 16 October 2009
Well, he has got a very good car, so he has a chanse to do well. But he wont be at the front of the pack, that i am pretty certain of.
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Cardinal_Fang commented on this article
at 04:45 pm on 16 October 2009
He is only an amateur rally driver, not a professional like Loeb and the rest of the current drivers. If he opens up the US to rallying, that can only be a good thing. Lets face it, there are some pretty good places in the US for a rally.
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chwriting.com commented on this article
at 05:32 pm on 16 October 2009
It should be noted that, in the U.S. Rally America series, studded tires are NOT allowed, so all the work you see being done on the snow in that video up there is with snow tires alone. I've attended the Sno-Drift rally--the first event in the Rally America series based in northern Lower Michigan in the dead of winter--since 2001 and the popularity of the sport has REALLY jumped in the past few years thanks to the likes of Pastrana and Ken Block. Both drivers are very approachable (I chatted both of them up for quite a while back in 07 before they got crazy popular) and they're some of the most down-to-earth racers I've met. Don't doubt their skill just because they're "American"; Pastrana has already driven a few WRC events and I'm sure Block will do just as well. Compared to many other Rally America drivers, these two are just in a completely different league.
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KMTV commented on this article
at 05:47 pm on 16 October 2009
I don't think he's going to do too well. Methinks that Loeb and company will show him what's what.
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