Thursday, October 18, 2012

IS AWD DRIFT THE NEXT BIG THING FOR KEN BLOCK ?



October 18th, Park City, Utah: While Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block is often heralded by fans as the “King of Drift” for his Gymkhana Films, Block has never actually drifted on an official Formula DRIFT course, until now. Last week, Block and the Hoonigans set out to see what the Monster Energy Ford Fiesta H.F.H.V. could do at the infamous Irwindale Speedway course, dubbed the “House of Drift.”
 
Prior to the start of the final Formula DRIFT Championship round at the Speedway, Block was allowed out on track for 3.5 hours, to practice and film this Hoonigan Industries video. This was a steep challenge, due to the Irwindale course being the most challenging of the 7-stop season, plus the course’s high speed banks are more suited to the drift angle of a typical RWD drift car than Ken’s short-wheelbase, AWD Fiesta. Still the H.H.I.C. (Head Hoonigan in Charge) was able to successfully drift the entire course while still hitting the clipping points intended for the RWD drivers.

“I’m pretty stoked with how I did out there on the Irwindale Formula Drift course today,” said Block. “While I’ve always been a fan of drift, I’ve never personally had the opportunity to run on of their courses with any of my cars. My Ford Fiesta HFHV definitely makes enough power, but I wasn’t sure just what I’d need to do to successfully do a complete lap because of the all-wheel-drive. Luckily, after a few practice passes I was able to put together some full runs and I did well.

The course is definitely a lot of fun and it’s got speeds that are way faster than the tighter gymkhana courses I’m used to.”