PARK CITY, UT, APRIL 16,
2018: Today, Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block is
pleased to announce his plans for the 2018 race season. When he removed himself
from full-time World RX racing at the end of last season, many wondered what
the Head Hoonigan In Charge would get into. The answer? An over-the-top mix of
racing that’s comprised of four stage rally events (three domestic in the
United States, one international) with two different vehicles, as well as two
rounds of the newly formed Americas Rallycross Championship (ARX) and one round
of the World RX Championship as well.
This is in addition to a return of
Gymkhana GRID in the U.S., another larger format Gymkhana GRID event with
Monster Energy on the other side of the Atlantic and the launch of an 8-part
documentary series titled The Gymkhana Files as well as GymkhanaTEN
this fall!
To start with, Block will campaign
his 90s Ford Escort Cosworth Group A racecar at three U.S. stage rally races.
He’ll be sending his vintage machinery through the woods at the Oregon Trail Rally
(April 20-22), New England Forest Rally (July 20-21) and the Idaho Rally
International (September 15-16).
Continuing the stage rally theme,
Block will also campaign in a 2017 Ford Fiesta RS WRC prepared by M-Sport, for
WRC Spain (October 25-28). “It takes a huge amount of effort and training to
race in the WRC,” said Block. “but I’ll be cramming that into a short period of
testing beforehand. It’s not really enough time in the car to properly prepare
for a WRC attack, but I’ll take what I can get!" WRC Spain will be Ken’s first WRC race since he race WRC
Spain back in 2014.
Returning to rallycross via select
ARX rounds (COTA, July TBD and Canada August 4-5) as well as one World RX round
at Circuit of the Americas (September 29-30), Block will be forming a three-way
technical and marketing partnership between himself, Canadian rallycross star
Steve Arpin and Hoonigan. The partnership will see Arpin become a Hoonigan
driver and his racecar will feature a similar livery to Block’s. Arpin's Loenbro team will continue to develop
the Focus RS RX in addition to running the two cars, while Block and Hoonigan will be contributing their
marketing prowess to Arpin’s RX program.
“I’m excited about partnering with
Steve [Arpin] on my 2018 rallycross plans,” said Block. “Steve and his team
have offered to continue with development of the Focus and I think they’re a
great partner for myself and my team when it comes to ARX. I’m also looking
forward to racing in rallycross once again in front of crowds in North America!”
In addition to getting back into
rally and continuing with rallycross, Block will also be competing in more
Gymkhana GRID events in 2018.
“Plans aren’t final yet, but we intend on doing a
GRID event or two back in America this year,” said Block “Hoonigan Racing
Division will be fielding as many as three racecars for the events. And, we’re
still partnering with Monster Energy once more to do another big Gymkhana GRID
event in Europe or South Africa.”
“I’m legitimately excited about my
calendar for this season,” Block continues. “I’ve really enjoyed the past few
years of rallycross, but I started my race career with rally and my heart has
always been with it, so to be able to get back into doing events like these
while still doing some rallycross makes me very happy! I love my old Cossie and
I’m looking forward to going and pushing that a bit here in America during some
events, but then I’m going to the opposite end of the spectrum with the current
2017 WRC Fiesta, which I think is going to be a lot of fun for WRC Spain. Plus, I am excited to see the further
developments that Steve Arpin and Loenbro will make on the Focus RS RX.”
Also back for 2018 is Block’s
ongoing partnership with artist Death Spray Custom. DSC was tapped
once again for livery design duties for Block’s cars as well as his
driving suit. The overall graphics package is an evolution of last season's 3D
lightning bolt theme, but given a slight retro feel given the application to
Block's classic Cossie. Block's 2018 suit, however, is a new, more intricate
and detailed take on a concept by Death Spray done previously. A vascular
system design that features hidden Hoonigan sayings like "Tire
Slayer," "Kill All Tires" and "Ain't Care."
“David [Death Spray Custom] really
has a great sense of what works and what doesn't work for myself and
my programs,” said Block. “He’s been great to collaborate with on these
designs and I think that my fans enjoy the work too. It’s also stuff
that translates well to Hoonigan apparel, which is always a nice
bonus for me!”
Finally, Block will be staying very
busy in 2018 amongst his calendar of events with his continued video production
efforts. Both The Gymkhana Files (8-part documentary series launching on
Amazon Prime) as well as the next installment of Block’s 500+ million view
viral Gymkhana franchise, GymkhanaTEN (created, shot and produced
by Hoonigan Media Machine) drop during Q4 of 2018. Block also has a handful of
original content projects for Hoonigan’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/TheHoonigans)
in production for 2018 as well.