March 11th, 2013, León, Mexico — After having been out of the Ford Fiesta WRC since their
last World Rally Championship appearance at Finland last summer, the Hoonigan
Racing Division duo of Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino returned to WRC Mexico this
weekend. The event also marked the pair’s 20th-ever race in a WRC car.
Despite not having any WRC testing
prior to the race—and their last bit of WRC seat time being 8-months ago—Block
and Gelsomino had a solid race strategy: keep it fairly conservative and just
focus on having a good time and enjoying the stages since Mexico is currently
their only WRC event on the 2013 race calendar. That strategy paid off with the
pair achieving their best-ever WRC finish with a highly respectable 7th
overall.
“I’m stoked with how this event
turned out for me,” said Block. “I was a bit nervous coming into it since I
hadn’t been in the WRC car since Finland last year. There were some new,
tighter and more technical stages added this year and while my normal driving
style suits fast, flowing roads a bit better, I really enjoyed the new stages.
Plus, as always, the fans down here in Mexico are absolutely some of the best
out there. They’re so passionate and enthusiastic, it really helps make this an
amazing event.”
Heading into the rally with no
pre-race testing, Block got things started on Thursday morning by kicking
things off with a top-10 qualifying position—an impressive feat given his lack
of recent WRC seat time. He then moved on into Friday, working his way into 7th
overall by the end of the day. Saturday brought further advances as Block moved
into 6th overall, which is where he ended the second full day of racing. Sunday
brought more consistent top-10 stage times and a third day of highly
competitive pace, although eventually former factory driver—and personal friend
of Block’s who has previously podiumed second in WRC Mexico—Chris Atkinson
edged out 6th overall from Block, pushing him back to 7th overall.
“I’m massively impressed with Ken’s
performance this weekend,” said Team Manager Derek Dauncey. “The pace he kept
in regards to the top drivers in this event surprised everyone, even myself. He
was very quick on every stage, which is fantastic given that he was taking a
more conservative approach. I’m very pleased that he’s walked away with his
best-ever finish of 7th overall.”
While Rally Mexico is currently
Block’s only WRC appearance scheduled for the 2013 season, Block will still be
competing in all four of the upcoming Global X Games, as well as the full
Global RallyCross championship and finishing out the 2013 Rally America
calendar.
Photos: HooniganRacing
