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KEN BLOCK CLAIMS 2ND OVERALL IN HIS AMERICAS RALLYCROSS DEBUT

AUSTIN, TX, JULY 16, 2018: In his first outing of 2018 in his Ford Focus RS RX rallycross car and his debut in the Americas Rallycross Championship, this past weekend, Ken Block overcame a series of technical challenges throughout the race day yesterday and placed himself and his Focus squarely on the podium, landing his best rallycross finish in the last three seasons with a 2nd overall and kicking off his return to racing rallycross in America in a big way.

During his qualifying races throughout the day on Saturday, Block finished first in his Q1 race, first in his Q2 race, third in his Q3 race and second in his Q4 race, leaving him sitting in 3rd overall in Qualifying going into his Semi-Final—which, due to some unfortunate contact from elsewhere in the field, found Block finishing in 2nd and setting him up for P3 on the starting grid of the Final. From that starting position, Block advanced to P2 by turn 1 and held that position for the entirety of the Final.

“Today was a challenge for sure,” said Block. “We had some technical issues with the suspension on both my car and on Steve’s [Arpin] car, which made it hard to keep the pace we needed to be competitive out there, but, Steve’s Loenbro Motorsports team did a great job getting the cars repaired and out there and kept us competitive. It definitely felt great to be back racing rallycross in American and I’m stoked that I’m heading home with a 2nd overall from Austin. I’m looking forward to Canada in a few weeks, that’s a fun track that suits our cars well and I’ve got two seasons of experience running it from my time in World RX, so I’m hoping for another positive result up there.”

Block’s Hoonigan teammate, Steve Arpin, qualified 5th overall but suffered a mechanical failure in his rear suspension in the Semi-Final and was unable to advance to the Final.

Both Block and Arpin will be competing in their Ford Focus RS RX’s in a few weeks during ARX’s third round of the season, taking place August 4th and 5th at Trois-Rivieres in Canada.

In the interim, Block is competing in the New England Forest Rally next weekend in his 90’s Ford Escort RS Cossie Group A/WRC car.

Ken Block Doesn’t often Go To Missouri, But When he Does, Locals Ask Him for Directions!

 February 18th, 2014, Park City, UT:  After their horrific wreck at final round of the 2013 Rally America Championship, Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino are back in the rally car  this morning for two days of testing in preparation for The 100 Acre Wood Rally, one of the two rounds that the team will compete in this year. The car has been fully rebuilt and the Hoonigan Racing team are also debuting their new  2014 livery, the team also 

announced Blocks full race schedule for the year, making him one of the busiest drivers in Rally..

 “I’m stoked with how the new liveries for my Ford Fiestas have turned out, as well as the race schedule we’ve been able to put together for 2014,” said Block. “Once again I’ve been fortunate enough to put together a highly diverse schedule that has me going around the world. I’m competing in the full Global RallyCross Championship, doing a handful of Rally America events, competing in a WRC round in Spain, doing the Monza Rally Sprint for the first time ever with Valentino Rossi as a teammate, returning to the Monster Energy Gymkhana GRID finale in Madrid, heading back to Japan to do more Gymkhana demos and, most interestingly, racing in three of the World RallyCross Championship rounds for the first time ever. I’m pretty sure nobody has a better job than me this year!”

 

 

In addition to having an action-packed year planned, Block has once again reinvented his race look for the 2014 season with a graphics package that will be incorporated across a full line of signature product including apparel from Hoonigan, sunglasses from SPY and RC cars from HPI.

“Every year I’m challenged with outdoing my livery from the season before,” said Block. “Luckily, I think we were able to do it once again. This year’s livery mixes animal pattern and 8-bit, which I love. We’ve come up with a sort of digital zebra graphic that I think is awesome and also brings me back into that familiar black and white color scheme I had starting back in 2010. I think the fans are going to enjoy this look.”

 

To catch Block and his all-new livery in action, be sure to follow along this coming weekend as he takes part in Rally America’s Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, where Block will be looking to reignite his winning streak for that event.

Block’s 2014 schedule:

 

Global RallyCross Championship:

• -    GRC Barbados: 5/18/14
• -    GRC X Games Austin: 6/17/14
• -    GRC Washington D.C.: 6/22/14
• -    GRC New York: 7/20/14
• -    GRC Charlotte: 7/26/14
• -    GRC Detroit: 8/3/14
• -    GRC Daytona: 8/23/14
• -    GRC Los Angeles: 9/20/14
• -    GRC Seattle: 9/27/14
• -    GRC Las Vegas: 11/5/14

 

Stage Rally:

• -    Rally America Rally in the 100 Acre Wood: 2/21-22
• -    Rally America Suesquehannock Trail Performance Rally: 5/30-31
• -    WRC Spain: 10/24-26
• -    Monza Rally Show: 11/22-24

 

World RallyCross Championship:

• -    WRxC Norway: 6/14-15
• -    WRxC France: 9/6-7
• -    WRxC Turkey: 10/11-12

 

Gymkhana demos:

• -    Japan: 7/5-6
• -    Gymkhana GRID, Madrid: 11/1-2

Source: Hoonigan Racing

Ken Block "The Fastest, The Biggest Wreck That I've Ever Had In My Career"

February 17th, 2014 Park City, UT: 2013 was a hugely successful race season for Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block, a driver who happened to have the most diverse and interesting racing schedule of last year.
Now, in preparation for the start of his 2014 race season, Block has released a video that shows and explains how he ended up 2nd overall in the Rally America Championship, after his chase at the title came to an abrupt, and brutal, end back in October at the final event, the Lake Superior Performance Rally.

Due to two simple letters (“in”) missing in his pace notes on one of the final stages of the event, Block and Gelsomino ended up cart wheeling down one of the final stages of the season, end over end, before coming to a stop against a tree.

The missing “in” allowed Block to go slightly wide around a very safe looking corner where his rear wheel went into the weeds and got caught up on a small clump of dirt, sending the Ford Fiesta HFHV into the air. While the crash was violent, the pair were fortunate to walk away from the championship-ending incident with minimal injury.

“This video is a tough one for me to watch,” said Block. “On the one hand, I’m proud of the fact that even after going through such a brutal crash, my first instinct was to try and get the car started again and press on. On the other, I’m still bummed that we were so close to winning the championship and that we lost it in such a spectacular fashion.

At the end of the day though, I’m grateful that the car did the job it was supposed to do and that I get to continue racing.” Block and Gelsomino’s run at the Rally America championship will have to wait another year however.

While the duo will be making their first competitive appearance of 2014 together at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Salem, Missouri—an event they’ve won six times previously—they’re unable to contest the entire season due to schedule conflicts with other race events. For details on Block’s race schedule for 2014, as well as seeing the debut of his all-new livery, stay tuned, as he’ll be dropping both on February 17th.

Source ; Hoonigan Racing

Rally America: Antoine L’Estage Returns with the Tiburon

The Shark gets a New Livery for The New England Forest Rally  Photo/ Libra Racing

 

Newry, ME. – July 20, 2013. With four rounds of the 2013 Rally America Championship in the bag, defending champion David Higgins of the Subaru Rally Team is holding a commanding grasp on the 2013 championship point’s race as we head to Maine for round five. Canadian Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard have reigned supreme in Maine taking the victory at the New England Forest Rally in the past three years.  It was also in Maine in 2010 where Rockstar Energy Team clinched the 2010 Rally America Championship.  L’Estage and Richard will return to Maine next weekend in their old Tiburon to chase down a fourth victory in a row.

The 2013 season has been a mixed bag to date for the RockStar Energy Team of L’Estage and Richard. After a dramatic come-from-behind victory at Sno*Drift in January, their luck has gone from bad to worse. At round number two, Rally in the 100 Acre Woods, the team would suffer a DNF due to overheating on day one.  At The Oregon Trail Rally in May, where the team would debut the WRC Mitsubishi, a very rare mistake by Antoine on stage 9 resulted in a spectacular crash.  Fortunately, both Antoine and Nathalie were able to walk away unharmed.  The WRC Mitsubishi did not come off as well suffering significant damage and therefore the car was returned to England for repairs.

Antoine had planned to run the WRC Mitsubishi throughout the 2013 Rally America Championship. To help fund this program L’Estage rented his trusty EvoX to Ritfat Sungkar for 2013. With the WRC car back in England and Ritfat in his regular car, Antoine was without a car for STPR and therefore was forced to miss round 4.  

With sponsor commitments on the line L’Estage looked to rent a car for Maine.  “We looked at several cars and were close to a deal on one, but for various reasons it did not happen,” said L’Estage. Without a confirmed car in place, it was looking somewhat bleak for L’Estage and Richard to make their return to the Rally American Championship in Maine.

 It was then that John Buffum of Libra Racing suggested that Antoine use his old Tiburon. The Tiburon was retired from competition in 2009 when Antoine moved to the Mitsubishi EvoX.  

Antoine has had a lot of success in the Tiburon in the past, although somewhat dated now, it may still factor in Maine. Photo Neil McDaid

 “The car has not been used in the Rally America Championship in several years.  There was a lot of work to get everything in place,” said Antoine. “I have to give a big thanks to John and his team at Libra Racing for working so hard to get the car ready.  We will get a test in the car early next week so we can get a felling for everything again and give the car a good shakedown.” 

Although the Tiburon was a very competitive car down through the years for Libra racing, it’s now somewhat dated against the WRC-based Ford Fiesta of Ken Block and the Subaru of David Higgins.  Antoine will also have to adjust back to the mechanical diffs, and will lose the advantage of the sequential box for a dog box. When asked what his goal for Maine was Antoine’s answer was simple, “I am going all out. I have won this rally for the past three years and I will try really hard to make it four. I always go out to win.”

Without question, Antoine will definitely have his work cut out for him to get the victory, as it’s also a must win for Ken Block to keep his championship hopes alive.  But as we have seen in the past, Antoine and Nathalie excel in Maine, and with Block and Higgins chasing the championship, anything can happen. Stay tuned for updates throughout the rally.

For spectator information and the most up to date news, check out www.rally-america.com

By Neil McDaid

 

Subaru PUMA RallyCross Team puts New Hampshire behind them and looks forward to Bristol

 

 

CHERRY HILL, N.J., July 16, 2013 The Subaru PUMA RallyCross Team returned to competition in the USA after overseas Global RallyCross (GRC) rounds in Barcelona and Munich. The fourth round of the GRC was held Thursday, July 12th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on unique course using part of the track's oval and pit lane while including dirt, tarmac and a jump.  The team's development of the Subaru STI Rallycross cars in the off-season began to pay dividends in New Hampshire where Team leader Sverre Isachsen qualified 3rd Overall and both he and teammate Bucky Lasek were able to progress to the Final.

Reaching the Final for the second time in his burgeoning Global RallyCross career Lasek put  forward his best performance to date.  In the Last Chance Qualifier race Lasek pulled off an impressive late race pass to finish 3rd and move to the Final.  Then in the Final Lasek ran in 5th Overall for a majority of the ten lap Final.  Just a few laps from the finish however a foreign object entered his engine bay and terminally damaged his engine on his 600hp Subaru STI.  "I drove the wheels off my Subaru here and it was great to be running in the top five," explains Lasek. "What happened was very unlucky but anything can, and does, happen in Rallycross and this just makes me even more eager to get to the next round in Bristol (Tennessee)."

Isachsen had a strong qualifying run, setting the 3rd fastest time and advanced to the Final with a second place finish in his Heat race.  In the Final however Isachsen's Subaru got a poor start dropping him to the back of the field, forcing the Norwegian to battle through the field to a 6th Overall result.  "I enjoyed the car here, we had a small issue at the start in the Final but overall we were able to run strong and we just need a clean run now to get the results we know we can achieve."

Subaru driver Dave Mirra had an event fraught with bad luck as a freak mechanical failure in his first heat race knocked him out of contention.  Mirra's confidence was buoyed however by setting the fastest lap time in the first timed practice.

The Subaru PUMA RallyCross Team will now take their Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive 600hp 2013 Subaru WRX STI Rallycross cars to Bristol Motor Speedway for round 5 of the 2013 Global RallyCross Championship.  The event will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN July 20th at 1:30pm ET.

Photo/ Neil McDaid /Stock/ Rally World News

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/16/5571522/isachsen-6th-lasek-8th-at-hard.html#storylink=cpy

Global Rallycross Confirms 2013 Schedule Featuring International Expansion

Los Angeles, Calif. (June 11, 2013) Global Rallycross (GRC) confirms its 2013 schedule will total nine rounds including races on three different continents in conjunction with Global X Games events in Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil), Barcelona (Spain) and Munich (Germany). As one of the fastest growing forms of motorsport, rallycross combines the best aspects of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. The series is made up of four Global X Games events and five GRC events to total nine rounds that will culminate in the crowning of both a driver’s champion and manufacturer’s champion. The 2013 championship features live broadcasts on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 available in over 198 countries. With more than 15 hours of primetime live content on major networks, the telecast package comprises the most expansive television coverage that the sport of rallycross has ever seen. The series’ star drivers include Ken Block, Brian Deegan, Travis Pastrana, Scott Speed and 2011 and 2012 GRC Champion Tanner Foust. The 2013 Global Rallycross schedule: April 21: GRC at X Games: Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil May 19: GRC at X Games: Barcelona, Spain June 29 & 30: GRC at X Games: Munich, Germany* July 11: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon NH July 20: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol TN August 04: GRC at X Games: Irwindale Speedway, CA August 10: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Atlanta, GA September 22: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Charlotte, NC November 07: Las Vegas, NV *Barcelona rainout makeup race on June 29 For more information: http://www.global-rallycross.com/news/press-releases/global-rallycross-confirms-2013-schedule-featuring-international-expansion/

Second Rallycross Race Added to X Games Munich A second medal race has been added to the X Games Munich competition schedule on June 29th. The race will serve as Round 2 of the Global Rallycross (GRC) season, replacing last month’s rain cancelled event in Barcelona. Round 3 will be contested on the same circuit on June 30th and each event will feature its own practice and qualifying sessions. Both events will count for full points in the GRC standings and X Games will award medals for both rounds. The weekend schedule will be as follows: SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2013 2:00 - 3:00 Practice & Seeding 3:00 - 3:30 Track prep 3:30 - 5:00 Heats, LCQ, Finals SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2013 2:20 - 3:00 Practice 3:00 - 3:15 Track prep 3:15 - 4:00 Seeding 4:00 - 5:00 Track prep 5:00 - 7:00 Heats, LCQ, Finals Please tune in to ESPN and www.global-rallycross.com for full coverage and broadcast times.

KEN BLOCK HONORS QUAD-AMPUTEE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN VETERAN TAYLOR MORRIS WITH A RIDE-ALONG

 

 

February 21st, 2013, Salem, Missouri — When it comes to viral videos on the Internet, Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block knows a thing or two. And, clearly, War in Afghanistan veteran, Taylor Morris, knows a few things as well.

Morris, a Navy Explosives Ordinance Disposal technician, was serving his first tour of Afghanistan in early 2012. However, in May of that year, he became the victim of an IED near Kandahar Airfield. Fortunately, Morris managed to survive the attack, but from that point forward, his entire life was changed. Morris is now a quad-amputee, who, thanks to the amazing support network of his girlfriend, his family and his friends, has been on the road to recovery at a blistering pace. In fact, Morris’ recovery efforts have been so impressive, that he and his friends even managed to put together a video demonstrating his ability to properly hoon a car and, in the process, call out HRD’s Ken Block! (video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxhUJmzTzps)

The video ended up going viral and found its way to Block’s personal email inbox. Inspired by both Morris and his story, Block reached out and invited Morris out to come ride along with him and see if, in fact, his driving was as “weak” as the video call out. Needless to say, Morris accepted the invitation and joined Block during his annual pre-Rally America Rally of the 100 Acre Wood test, held at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, Missouri.

“It was an epic experience for me,” said Morris “I can't believe our idea for the video we made actually succeeded and we were invited out by one of rally’s most talented drivers in the world for a ride along. It’s been a great experience for me and all of my friends—to be here and have a good time with Ken and the whole Hoonigan Racing Divsion team. Thanks so much to everybody involved!”

“I’m inspired by Taylor,” said Block. “He sacrificed so much for our country and has been through a ton. Yet he still has this incredible outlook and attitude towards life and he’s clearly not letting what happened to him stop him from doing anything. He’s also a really funny, nice guy! It was an absolute pleasure having him and his friends out to our test this week and I think I was able to show him that I can hang with his driving skills!”

To learn more about Morris, his story and his road to rehabilitation, please visit: www.taylormorris.org

Sno*Drift 2013: Antoine L’Estage Overhauls David Higgins on the Final Stages, Andrew Comrie-Picard Takes Scion to the Podium in 2WD

Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard celebrate an epic come-from-behind victory at the 2012 Sno*Drift Rally, held this past weekend in Northern Michigan. Despite winning three of the eight special stages on day one, L’Estage, in his Libra Racing / Rockstar Energy sponsored Mitsubishi Evo X, found himself trailing Subaru’s David Higgins after the first day of competition. L’Estage would concede the first three stages on day two to Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew but would pull back over six seconds on the longest stage of the rally SS12 “Camp 30."  After battling through the afternoon stages, swapping stage times along the way, it would be on the second pass of “Camp 30” the penultimate stage of the rally that L’Estage would set a blistering pace on the icy surface to pull ahead of Higgins. With only one short stage left in the rally it only took a clean run from L’Estage and Richard to cap off this outstanding victory over the rival Subaru team. Photo: Neil McDaid

“If you build it they will come.” Despite the blistering cold, hardy rally fans lined the banks of the spectator stage held in a large quarry west of Atlanta, MI.  Pictured here is Subaru Rally Team driver David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew, running first on the road. David looked for the fastest line through this snow covered man made stage. Higgins opened his rally by taking some early stage victories and ,despite making hard contact with a tree on the closing stages on day one, held the overall lead into the closing stages of the rally on the day two. David and his Subaru Team would eventfully have to settle for second overall, but are already vowing revenge at 100AW.  
Photo: Neil McDaid



“Not so Crazy Leo” after a little off during practice we seen a more subdue version of this very popular Canadian/Russian driver.  Leonid Urlichich [aka Crazy Leo] and co-driver Carl Williamson opted to run first on the road, but their pace was drastically off from prior events. Nonetheless this “less crazy” approach netted the team a third overall podium place, which is no small feat at Sno*Drift. Photo Neil McDaid

“He's back!” Without question there was a certain buzz among rally fans with the return of Ken Block to the Rally America Championship. Ken’s newly rebranded “Hoonigan Racing Team” will contest all Rally America events in 2013. 
Photo: Neil McDaid

Ken Block will be the first to tell you that Sno*Drift has been a frustrating rally for him over the years. But he was feeling pretty confident in the car setup when we spoke with him prior to the first stage. After setting the second fasted time to David Higgins on the first stage, Ken’s string of bad luck would continue at Sno*Drift. Electrical gremlins would stall his Fiesta after only two stages. Thankfully, Rally America has adapted the Super Rally rule where Ken was able to return on day two. It was a case of what might have been had the Fiesta not had problems on day one. Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino would set fastest times on several stages throughout day two. Unfortunately, the penalties accumulated on day one would leave a podium finish out of reach. Block would claw his way back to sixth overall.
Photo: Neil McDaid



SP Class: With defending SP Champion Laughlin O Sullivan not able to make it to Sno*Drift due to his new car build not being complete, Evan Cline and his new [again] co-driver Jake Blattner would take full advantage and charged to the class victory. Evan was as high as forth in the overall standing at one point on day one, but with the return of Block and taking the sensible approach for the class victory, Cline would finish 7^th overall.  Mason Moyle / John A Hall would take 2^nd in SP Class and Nick Roberts / Nick Judkins in only their second national rally would take third on the podium.
Photo: Neil McDaid



There is no better feeling when debuting a new car than putting it on the podium in its first rally! Andrew Comrie-Picard [right] and Jeremy Wimpey celebrate their overall victory in 2WD. Andrew and the team took a calculated move to run their Scion XD normally aspirated for Sno*Drift and it paid off big.  The team won an impressive 19 of the 20 stages.  Team Scion Racing was flanked on the podium by a pair of Ford Fiestas; Dillion Van Way in second and "Fast" Eddie McNally in third. Photo: Neil McDaid

With an unconfirmed schedule for multi-time 2WD Rally America Champion Chris Duplessis, the weight of the 2WD battle for Ford will fall on the shoulders of drivers Dillon Van Way and “Fast Eddie” McNally.  For 2013, Van way has recruited the service of Andrew Edwards to call the notes, Edwards, comes with an impressive resume that includes the British Junior Rally Champion co-driver title in 2010 and runner-up in the national championship in 2011. Although Dillon was unable to match the pace of the Scion Racing team at Sno*Drift we are expecting to see a tighter battle at 100AW in late February.
Photo: Neil McDaid




























Ken Block Releases His Driving Schedule For 2013, Along with a First Look at Hoonigan Racings New Livery.

 

 

January 23^rd, 2013, Park City, Utah — Kicking off 2013 with a brand new race team and global headquarters, Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block is off to a big start this year. So, to better inform everyone about what he's going to be up to this season and what events he'll be partaking in, Hoonigan Racing Division decided it'd be best to let fans hear it directly from the man himself, the Chief Hoon, Ken Block. Below, Block goes into detail on everything from how he came up with his all-new team look to what he hopes to accomplish in 2013.

The Hoonigan Racing Division 2013 Livery: “I’m stoked on how this livery and overall team aesthetic has turned out this year. With the name change to Hoonigan Racing Division, we wanted to take the look in a slightly different direction, one that has been inspired by my love of 80s and early 90s skateboarding graphics, as well as Miami Vice-era offshore powerboats and a dash of hair metal and old school hip hop mixed in for good measure. Much like we did in our years as MWRT, we’re continuing to try and lead and innovate in the motorsports marketing arena with this livery.” 

2013 overall: “Once again, I’m trying to fit in as much driving as possible for 2013. Unlike most drivers who only compete in one series, I’m very fortunate to be able to race in so many different disciplines. Between competing in X Games, GRC, Rally America, Gymkhana GRID and WRC, It’s going to be an awesome year. I can’t wait to get it started.”

Global X Games: “X Games has always been one of my favorite events of the season, so I’m hyped that this year it is going global with four international stops. Now Los Angeles isn’t my only chance at taking the gold, there will also be Brazil, Spain and Germany. I think the worldwide fans are really going to enjoy the opportunity to go see what X Games is all about up close and personal.”

Global RallyCross: “Last year was my rookie season in GRC. I learned a lot and had some amazing qualifying times. I even managed to dominate the final event of the season until my car caught fire! So, with a season’s worth of experience now under my belt, and a car that has now had a year of rallycross development, I’m feeling really confident about entering the 2013 GRC season and going after the title. I think I’ve got the experience and the car to get it done this year.”

Rally America Championship: “I’m pleased to say that I’ll be campaigning the full Rally America Championship this year. In 2012 I made it out to two events and won both, as well as winning a Canadian rally. I’m confident that my team has built a highly capable car and that the experiences that myself and my co-driver, Alex Gelsomino, have gained doing WRC events the past few seasons really help us when it comes to making our pace notes for the races. My goal for the year is to win the championship, plain and simple.”

WRC: “For me it’s great to continue racing in the World Rally Championship. Last year I competed in three events and in two of them I finished within the top ten and scored points [the third event would have ended with a top 10 finish also, but ended in a mechanical DNF on the final day]. I really enjoy being able to stay somewhat competitive in WRC, despite only competing part-time and not being able to log any testing in the car prior to the actual events. Hopefully I’ll be running a similar amount of WRC events in 2013.”

Gymkhana GRID: “Monster Energy came in last year and got behind my Gymkhana GRID series in a big way. They ran a five-event European series and all of the fans and participants that came out really enjoyed the racing format. In fact, the feedback was so strong that they’re looking to expand it even further this year, so I’m looking forward to going back over and competing in GRID once again. We’re also going to try and investigate the possibility of bringing GRID back to America in 2013 as well.”

Octane Academy 2: “Ford had great success with Octane Academy last year. So much so that the second season has been picked up by NBC Sports for 2013. We’re changing up the format a bit and focusing a lot more on actual driving challenges, getting the contestants more seat time and really showcasing just what the cars can do with the proper training behind the wheel. It’s going to be a lot of fun to make, I can’t wait to get started.”

Gymkhana: “I’m working on a very special Gymkhana project with DC for 2013. I can’t comment too much on it at this point, but we’re taking a very different approach to it for this year. That’s all I’m going to say right now!”

 

TEA AND HOONING - KEN BLOCK RETURNS TO GOODWOOD

June 27th, New York, New York: Monster World Rally Team driver, Ken Block, will be returning to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming weekend to attempt to recapture the Veuve Clicquot “Most Thrilling Driver” award, a title he was given during last year’s event for hooning up the famed hill. 2010 marked the World Rally Championship driver’s first-ever visit to one of motorsports’ most prestigious and well-known motoring events, where drivers from all forms of racing convene and run their respective cars up the 1.2-mile long driveway of host Lord March’s estate in Chichester, England. 

“I had an incredible time at Goodwood last year,” said Block. “The Festival of Speed is such a great event and I can’t wait to get back. The fans, the cars, the runs up the hill, the forest rally stages, the whole experience is dope. Plus, I managed to take home an award for hooning last year, which was basically given to me for destroying Lord March’s lawn. To me, that’s awesome, so I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure I secure that title again this year.”

To double his odds of securing the Veuve Clicquot “Most Thrilling Driver” award once again, Block will be bringing out two cars to this year’s Festival of Speed. His Gymkhana THREE Ford Fiesta and his Ford Fiesta RS WRC that he currently runs in the World Rally Championship. 

This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed runs from July 1st through July 3rd. Follow Ken Block during his visit to the event at monsterworldrallyteam.com, facebook.com/KenBlockRacing and facebook.com/MonsterWorldRallyTeam.

Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins Wins 2011 Oregon Trail Rally

Portland, OR (May 15th, 2011)  -- Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew took a commanding win at the Oregon Trail Rally, round four of the 2011 Rally America Championship. Higgins finished 3 minutes 26.9 seconds ahead of rival Antoine L'Estage and won ten of the fifteen stages. It was a tight battle with David Higgins but the Mitsubishi Rockstar crew of Antione L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard suffered three tire punctures in a row on day two, which cost them the chance to keep pace with Higgins. Oregon marks Higgins' second consecutive victory of the season having just won the Olympus Rally two weeks ago in Washington State. Higgins now assumes the overall Championship from Travis Hanson, who has lead the points race since the opening round at Sno*Drift Rally.

The Oregon Trail Rally began Friday with spectator stages held at the Portland International Raceway before moving to the scenic farmlands in and around The Dalles and Dufur for days two and three. Oregon Trail began as a dry and dusty rally, but was consumed by heavy rains and thunderstorms during the middle of day two. The inclement weather forced event organizers to cancel the last two stages of day two and shorten some of day three's stages.

In addition to the changing weather and road conditions, attrition quickly set in for several teams including Subaru Canada's Pat Richard and co-driver Leanne Junnila. Richard was forced to retire on Stage 8 due to persisting fuel pump problems. Another notable retirement was Subaru Rally Team USA's Dave Mirra and co-driver Marshall Clarke, who were in third overall before Saturday's stages before crashing out on Stage 6.

Super Production (SP) driver Ramana Lagemann and co-driver Chrissie Beavis completed the overall National podium by finishing a distant third despite having engine issues on day one. Lagemann also took the SP class win over Travis and Terry Hanson by a mere 3.6 seconds, but the results remain provisional pending a protest about Lagemann filed by Hanson. The Hansons put in a solid run and lead Super Production up until the morning of day three when they began battling closely with Lagemann for the class win. Travis Hanson is still in contention for the overall Championship and is now closer to securing the 2011 Super Production title. Local driver Paul Eklund and co-driver Jeff Price took third in SP and ninth overall.

In Two-Wheel-Drive, Scion xD driver Andrew 'ACP' Comrie-Picard and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey took the class win and placed seventh overall. ACP, who won the 2010 Oregon Trail Rally in Open class, finished 26 seconds ahead of Mazda Speed 3 driver Wyatt Knox. Knox and co-driver Ole Holter spent the entire weekend entrenched in a close battle with the Scion team, but finished second in class and eighth overall. Ford Racing Fiesta driver Dillon Van Way and co-driver Jake Blattner finished third in class and 12^th overall, but fell minutes behind ACP and Knox early in the rally after having suspension issues. Brian Gottlieb and co-driver Pat Darrow finished behind Van Way, taking fourth in class and 13^th overall.

The Oregon Trail Rally ran one Northwest Regional event on each day of the event. Carl Decker and Adam Craig won the 'Wagons Ho!' Regional hosted at Portland International Raceway with 27.4 seconds over Brian Svedin and co-driver Teresa Buren. Mark Tabor and co-driver Ben Bradley placed third.

Brian Svedin and Teresa Buren won the 'Shunpikur Stages' Regional held on day two, finishing 16.6 ahead of Decker and Craig. Byron Garth and co-driver Greg Allen placed third.

Decker and Craig came back on day three to win the 'Trails End' Regional by 36.5 seconds over Svedin and Buren. Dave and Richard Hintz finished in third place.

The next round of the Rally America National Championship is the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally in Wellsboro, PA, this June 3-4.

Flying Finn Marcus Gronholm Dominates at Global RallyCross #1, While Jimmy Keeney Walks Away From the Big One.

By Neil McDaid

Irwindale CA, March 26, 2011. As round number one of the Global RallyCross Championship got underway on Friday morning, it quickly became apparent that we were going to witness a master class in driving from WRC Champion and Flying Finn Marcus Gronholm. Marcus, who teamed up with Best Buy and Ford Racing for the inaugural round of the Championship would dominate on both days of competition, taking his 2011 Ford Fiesta to the top spot on the podium in both Super Rally and RallyCross.

Considering the short amount of time from when we had confirmation that Global RallyCross was a go, the organizers did a bang up job in pulling it all together for the first round. With a mountain of dirt trucked into the infield of Irivindale’s Toyota Speedway earlier in the week, it was all hands on deck to get the course set in time for competition. Adding to the already tight schedule, wet weather in the area in the days just prior to the event hampered in the construction of the Gap Jump bringing things right down to the wire as the teams arrived.

The 70 foot Gap Jump was to be the main feature of the course layout, with a smaller second jump thrown in for entertainment value. Several hundred concrete and plastic jersey barriers would form a maze in the infield, which drivers would navigate to complete their laps.

With a limited entry for the first round we basically ended up with two classed, AWD and 2WD. To the disappointment of many, myself included Mikael Eriksson’s  mighty 2WD Porsche  911/966 got delayed in U.S. customs and did not make the event, which left the remaining  2WD  entries evenly matched for the most part.,

Not so much in the AWD class, for Art Gruszka, Jimmy Keeney and Joseph Burke who showed up in their regular stage rally cars, it was kind of like bringing a knife to a gunfight. They were down by as much as 200 HP to the RallyCross specific cars, nonetheless undeterred they fought well with what they brung.

Leading the charge for the Americans was Tanner Foust in his RockStar Energy / Ford Racing backed AWD Ford Fiesta. Foust volunteered to take the first pass over the jump to determine the optimal speed to clear the gap. The approach speed to the jump is critical, too slow spells disaster as we have seen in the past at XGAMES, and would unfortunately witness again at this event.

Day one would get underway with Super Rally, a racing format developed for XGAMES competition. Despite the best efforts of the announcers, the fans in the stands struggled to grasp the concept of the super rally. I have to say that it can get a bit confusing at times to understand where things are at.  Down time between runs was extremely tedious, granted this should improve as more cars enter at future events.

A moment of high flying drama during the AWD eliminations had the fans on their feet in awe. While chasing Marcus Dodd in the Hyundai Veloster, Jimmy Keeney from Colorado would disintegrate his pristine Subaru STI over the jump.

Jimmy made a late gear change as he approached the gap jump ramp, which dropped his approach slightly below the required speed. He just about cleared the gap but his rear tires would clip the edge launching the car back into the air followed by several end over end flips before the mangled Subaru came to rest at the bottom of the ramp.

There were a few tense moments before Jimmy emerged from the side window of the car. The Irwindale track rescue teams sprang into action and were with Jimmy within seconds of the car coming to a rest.

Although the car was a total loss, Jimmy’s safety equipment performed as planned and thankfully despite been a little sore from the belts Jimmy walked away from this massive wreck to race another day.

Onto the quarter finals, America’s rising rally star Joseph Burke would throw down a massive drive against Sweden’s Mikael Jernberg.  Jernberg who is one of Europe’s top professional RallyCross drivers has decided to forego racing in Europe for a year and contest the new Global RallyCross Championship and XGAMES. Burke’s Mitsubishi Evo was clearly drastically down in power to Jernberg’s angry little Skoda, but it did not deter young Burke from hounding the old hand around the course.

Jernberg would eventfully take the win over Burke and go on to edge out Tanner Foust in the semi finals.

Jernberg would now meet WRC legend Marcus Gronholm in the final who despite having a slight mechanical glitch on the start line of one of the heats breezed his way through to the finals.

Apart from Jimmy’s big moment, the SuperRally final was the highlight of day one, Gronholm and Jernberg would go at it hell for leather. Jernberg getting a nose ahead on Gronholm on the opening lap but it was only a nose, Marcus was on the attack. The pair gets into each other at the bottom of the jump ramp, Marcus would power his way through and edge out Jernberg for the lead. Despite continued intense pressure from the Jernberg, Marcus would take the overall victory in Super Rally. Tanner Foust would claim third from his placing in the semifinals.

The course layout for the 2WD cars excluded the large gap jump, but the small jump on the second dirt section inflicted some front end damage on the 2WD cars as the battled the clock in qualifying, before it was flatten out some by the track crew.

Dillon Van Way and Tyler TurnBull both in Ford Focus’s along with Randy Zimmer and Matthew Johnson who were both in the Mazda camp all advanced from qualifying to the 2WD Final.

In the final, Van Way got the edge and ran with it to the finish line, Matthew Johnson steered the Mazda RX8 to second, and while a very elated Randy "Zoomer” Zimmer brought his very unique Miata home in third.

Despite the lack of HP, traction and any sign of sponsors, the 8 drivers entered in 2WD gave it their all on every lap.

Day two would see a much better crowd in attendance over day one, drivers took a time out from the action to sign posters and just about anything else for the fans. Photo Neil McDaid www.rallyworldnews.com

Day two, we move from Super Rally to the RallyCross format, the track layout out gets a slight tweak by the organizers to reduce the risk of impact after the jump. We also are delighted to see the arrival of Dave Mirra and Team Subaru for day two. For some unknown reason beyond our information level, Subaru decided to sit out day one.

After a few practice laps, we would jump right into the 2WD heats. Dillion Van Way would set the early pace, with Andrew Sutherland in the Honda Civic in second and Matthew Johnson in third.

Sliding over from Formal D, drifter Chris Kregorian showed up Saturday in his twin turbo spinning Nissan 350Z to get in on some of the RallyCross action. Andrew would grab forth in the first heat.

Dillion Van Way would also take heat #2, with the Kregorian moving up to second and Randy Zimmer moved to third.

Matthew Johnson, tried his best to grind the passenger’s side door handle off his Nitro Circus sponsored Mazda as he clipped a tire in the heat of battle and slide over the finish line on his side. Somehow the car managed to drop back on all fours; Johnson fired it up and returned to the pits.

Whether it was from the bump landing or some other little gremlin working its way into the RX8, Johnson’s car decided it would stay in second gear. Despite all kinds of tugging and pulling it was locked in. Not wanting to give in just yet Johnson would complete the last heat in 2^ND gear, while others had issues Matthew somehow managed to make to the finish line to qualify for the 2WD A-Main.

In the words of Matthew Johnson, “Rally needs more characters” well, you will be hard pressed to find a more interesting character in rally than the man himself [pictured on the right] and no less of a character is his fellow 2WD competitor Randy “Zoomer” Zimmer. Photo Neil McDaid www.rallyworldnews.com

There was no want of drama when the AWD cars started the heat races, five of the ten starters DNF’ed in the first heat.

Dave Mirra misunderstood the starting system and failed to launch in his heat, Art Gruszka tagged a barrier which stopped his run.

But it was Joseph Burke who brought the fans to their feet in the early going. Burke while running second to Hyundai team driver Rhys Millen come into the gap just a little too hot, he clipped the bank performed a perfect mid air flip and landed his Evo on the guard rail. “it’s hard to back off when you’re so close to a victory even it’s only a heat race, I was right there with Rhys coming into the gap, the rear end just stepped out, I thought I had it recovered enough to make the turn, but over she went, I fired it up right before it landed but it was caught up on the rail-bummer” it would take some creative work by the tracks recovery crew to get Burke stricken Evo off the guard rail.   Marcus Gronholm took the heat #1 victory, trailed by team mates Tanner Foust and Pontus in third.

The Ford’s of Marcus Gronholm and Pontus Tidemand would falter in heat #2, and DNF.  Because of damage sustained in his earlier roll, Burke would have to sit out heat 2 while his crew rushed to repair the car.  Tanner Foust took the victory in heat #2 with Hyundai Team mates Rhys Millen and Marcus Dodds finally getting a good showing in thier beautiful new Velostar’s.

Heat # 3 seen a return of the Ford men to the top of the sheet, Marcus, Tanner and Pontus made it 1,2,3,. Stephan Verdier in his Crawford powered Subaru was pushing hard to took forth.

With the heats and the b-mains behind us it was onto the finals.

For some strange reason the crew can always seem to eke out just a few more horsepower from the cars for the A-Finals.

As the 10 minute warning was giving to the 2WD drivers to report the start line, all kinds of drama was going on under Johnson’s Mazda, I think I counted 5 pair of feet sticking out from under the RX8 at one point.

The car was still stuck in gear; Matthew was keeping us posted via twitter, “Bummed, car stuck in 2nd gear....running out of time. Might have to try to compete in 2nd and givr” but @mjrally quickly follow up with “Holy cow, just got ma' gears back! Thanks Odi at FEAL suspension! Ready to rock I think” yes indeed MJ was back and ready to rock.

And rock it he did, Matthew got off to an early lead, Dillon Van Way and Andrew Sutherland would start to close the gap on Matthew in the closing lap, but their tight racing would get the better of them. As the charged along the front straight, Andrew would clip one of the barriers which pitched his Honda in front of Dillon taking both of them out of the race. Randy Zimmer who had been in forth now moved to second and Laughlin O Sullivan grabbed the final podium spot in third. It was back to back podium finishes for Johnson and Zimmer in the Mazda’s a great result for two men that drove cross country to get to L.A...

On to the climax of two long days of racing, the AWD, A-Main, I have to say there are few things in motorsports that can compare to the standing start of the AWD cars in RallyCross. Not to make lite of the situation in Japan, but I swear I felt the earth shutter as the cars launched.

It was Marcus Gronholm with the edge as they rounded turn one at Irwindale speedway, closely flanked by team mate Tanner Foust and privateer Stephen Verdier. With Pontus Tidemand leading the second pack of Dave Mirra and Rhys Millen, all three headed towards the jump.Marcus would maintain his lead over Foust as the laps counted down, Pontus Tidemand who was rubbing bumpers with Stephen Verdier for third pulled off to the side on the front straight in the closing laps with mechanical issues. .

Stephen Verdier would find an opening and passed Foust for second, which he held for a half of a lap, before Foust grabbed it back. In the end it was all Marcus, he just seemed to be able to turn it up a notch when needed taking the overall victory on both days of the event.  Tanner Foust would keep Verdier at bay and held second. By taking third, Stephen Verdier proved there is a place on the podium in this sport for the privateer, as he beat the factory supported teams from Subaru and Hyundai.

Crews will head north to Seattle for round #2. It’s doubtful that we will see Marcus Gronholm in attendance, but it’s not out of the question. Most of the competitors that ran at Irwindale seem set to compete in Washington. Hopefully we will see a few more drivers jumping into the 2WD battle. Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available; also check in with http://www.global-rallycross.com/ for the most up to date info and tickets.    

Pictures ©Neil McDaid / RallyWorldNews.com