Ken Block brings home a best-ever 8th overall finish at WRC France

BLOCK TEARS UP THE TARMAC OF WRC FRANCE, TAKING HOME 4 CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS WITH A PERSONAL BEST 8TH OVERALL FINISH ALONG WITH HIS FASTEST STAGE PLACING EVER. 

October 3rd, 2011, Strasbourg, France – Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino set two personal bests at this past weekend’s Rallye de France. While the duo charged hard throughout all three days of racing, they turned it up a notch for Sunday’s final stages, laying down a blistering pace at times that not only netted Block his fastest stage finish ever (4^th fastest on SS18), but also his best WRC event finish of 8^th overall, securing 4 points in the 2011 driver’s championship, doubling what he brought home last year during his rookie season.

“This rally was awesome,” said Block. “There have been more Americans on the moon than those who have scored points in the WRC, so to come out on what’s mathematically my first race after a season’s worth of rallies (a season is 13 events) as a WRC driver and score 4 points, well, it’s just an amazing feeling. The final day of this rally went really well for us and I think a combination of me being more comfortable and confident in my tarmac setup, as well as having done this event last year really paid off.” 

After what Block had repeatedly described as a “difficult and frustrating event” for him in Germany a month and a half ago, Block set out at Rally France, only his 14^th event in a WRC-spec car, for a clean and solid race. His pace over the first two days kept him in point contention but as a battle brewed on Sunday morning with up and coming French rally driver Pierre Campana, who was a mere 7 seconds ahead, Block stepped it up for what would be his most impressive WRC outing to date. 

“Ken ran a great race the entire weekend,” said team manager Derek Dauncey. “Looking at his split times, you can see that his pace was on point with the top drivers, even beating Ogier, Petter [Solberg] and Hirvonen on SS18 at the start of Leg 3, which is huge. I’m also massively impressed with the way he went out and took time out of Campana right off the bat this morning, then continued to do so and protect that top 10 position. Ken and Alex have made a giant step in their development over the previous few months and I am sure we have a lot more to come.”

Block’s next competitive event is the RallyRACC Rally of Spain, October 20 – 23, where he’ll once again be racing on tarmac with hopes of scoring more points in the driver’s championship. Until then, follow the team at monsterworldrallyteam.com, facebook.com/KenBlockRacing and facebook.com/MonsterWorldRallyTeam.