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5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career

One could spend days in a row reading about Ken Block's motorsport career and would just scratch the surface of it all. He actively competed in rallying for almost 20 years, always pushing the limits of his car and himself. Without a doubt, he was one of the most dedicated and inspiring figures of motorsports in the 21st century, and we would like to continue cherishing his memory to infinity and beyond.
5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career 37 photos
Photo: Ken Block
5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career
Wounds need time to heal, and Ken Block's family and the team will most likely need more of it to come to terms with his tragic passing. But there's no doubt that when they will be strong enough to talk about it, they will. And we can only hope that one day we'll get to see a feature film or documentary about his life and passion for all machines with an engine attached to them.

Until then, we've still got the Gymkhana Files episodes that were available on Prime Video and plenty of other videos some of which we've included below as well. After ranking the best Gymkhana episodes and cars, let's have a look at the 5 best rally moments from Ken Block's illustrious racing career. Some of you can certainly come up with other important moments of his life, so let us know your thoughts on the topic. Meanwhile, here's a chronological approach to the topic.

5. 2006 Rally America: P2 Overall

Ken was almost 40 years old when he made his rallying debut. He had already been successful with his DC Shoes business venture, and finally had the resources to take on a long-time dream of his. He drove a 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI that was built by Vermont SportsCar. If that name rings a bell, you may remember that the same company built both the Airslayer and the Huckster Subarus for Pastrana's Gymkhana appearances.

Ken managed to win the Rookie of the Year Award while securing P4 overall in USA's National Series: Rally America. But his first big motorsport moment would arrive a year later. After signing a deal with Subaru and forming Subaru Rally Team USA with Travis Pastrana, he won his first-ever race: the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood! He managed to repeat that performance later on in the season at the Lake Superior Performance Rally.

By the end of the season, he had racked up a total of 90 points, finishing second overall behind his teammate who would go on to dominate the Championship for an additional three more years. That was quite a promising start to his career, years before his first Gymkhana project.

4. 2013 WRC Rally Mexico: P7

5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career
Photo: Ken Block/Race & Motion
We all know that when it comes to rallying, the WRC is the pinnacle of the sport. And anyone mad enough to drive flat out, at speed of over 100 mph on tarmac or snow through the forest has dreamed about competing in the World Rally Championship at least once. And Ken Block was lucky enough to live that dream. Some might say that he wasn't lucky, as he didn't get to race for a full season or even win one of these events.

But ask yourself this: how many rally drivers are there on Earth today? And how many of them have ever raced in the WRC before? Chances are that we're talking about a 1% kind of group here. He made his WRC debut in Mexico back in 2007, and it's quite fitting that a few years later he had his best World Rally Championship result in the same country.

In 2013, he managed to finish P7 in the Rally Mexico, losing to drivers like Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sébastien Ogier, and Thierry Neuville. But he also managed to finish in front of stars like Mads Østberg and Jari-Matti Latvala! And that's not to be taken lightly! Just think of it this way. Kalle Rovanperä won the 2022 WRC season, at age 22. When Block took P9 in Mexico, he was already 46 years old!

3. 2014 Global Rallycross: P2 Overall

5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career
Photo: Ken Block
Fast forward to 2014, he was about to make another statement. Block had been competing in the Global Rallycross Championship since 2011, the first year of racing for the series. He gradually improved his results, moving from 23rd in the first season, to fifth in the second one and third overall in 2013. He scored his first GRC victory at the final round in Las Vegas that year, and he was hungry for more.

For 2014, the Global Rallycross Championship was set to start in Barbados, and then carry on with an additional nine events in the USA. After a pretty rough start to the season, Block finally managed to secure a well-deserved P3 in New York. And then he won the race in Charlotte! Back then he was facing some serious competition from the likes of Rhys Millen, Tanner Foust, Bucky Lasek, Nelson Piquet JR, and Joni Wiman to name just a few drivers.

Still, he scored three more podiums before winning in Las Vegas at the end of the year again. With a total of 376 points, he took P2 overall in the championship that year, just 5 points behind Joni Wiman. Either way, it was a remarkable achievement for the year that he also launched Gymkhana Seven in.

2. 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship: P9 Overall

5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career
Photo: Ken Block
Over the years we've noticed quite a bit of rivalry going on between the Global Rallycross series and the World Rallycross Championship. We won't be addressing the topic here, but we will point out that Ken Block opted to race in the latter one after retiring from the GRC. Also, the FIA World Rallycross is still around today, albeit in a slightly different, all-electric format.

The 2017 calendar was quite a busy one, with 12 races in 11 countries on three different continents. Five constructors fought for the Supercar title that year: Audi, Ford, Kia, Peugeot, and Volkswagen. So Block was going up against motorsport legends such as Mattias Ekström, Petter Solberg, and Sébastien Loeb.

Solberg was the only non-Swedish driver to win a race that season, as Johan Kristoffersson scored seven victories on his way to the Championship title. Given the circumstances, Ken Block performed admirably well taking P9 at the end of the season. With 14 more points, he would have been up in P7, right behind his teammate Andreas Bakkerud. Add the fact that he also shot his Climbkhana special in 2017, and you could say that he had a pretty good year overall.

1. 2022 American Rally Association National Championship: P2 Overall

5 Best Rally Moments from Ken Block’s Illustrious Racing Career
Photo: Ken Block
While it was difficult to think that Ken would have still had a chance to win the World Rally Championship, he had all the reasons to believe that he could achieve one of his lifelong dreams. In 2022, the American Rally Association organized a total of eight races, and Ken had his eye on the prize from day one. After racing a Subaru STI in 2021, he felt the need to find a car that better matched his driving style. He wanted something with a shorter wheelbase, similar to his Gymkhana-ready Fiestas. And he ultimately decided on importing a Hyundai i20 WRC machine from Europe.

It was only a month ago that Block revealed his 2022 rallying video review called "Go Fast Risk Every Thang", which we can wholeheartedly recommend that you watch on a big-screen TV. Ken was inches away from becoming the 2022 champion, and both he and his codriver Alex Gelsomino gave it their best throughout the season to get there.

Seeing this documentary will further reveal how much rallying meant to Ken, regardless of the stress, pain, and effort associated with the journey. He was off to a rough start in 2022, after crashing the car during practice at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. The team managed to fix the car and Ken forgot all about the incident and focused on taking the lead.

But while he had a comfortable advantage over his fastest opponent, a high-speed collision with a deer would ultimately put him in P2 at the end of the race. It went even worse at the Olympus Rally, where he suffered a 12G impact that took him out of the event. Five events and four victories later, he was on top of the leaderboard with a minimal advantage over Brandon Semenuk.

2022 was an emotional rollercoaster for Ken Block and his team, and they deserved to win the championship. By Stage 6 he was over 26 seconds in front of his fastest opponent, while it was dark outside. And that's when the dream came crumbling down, as he lost control of the car at one point effectively putting an end to his championship run. It's incredibly sad to see that he was so close to achieving what he had set out for after all these years. Clinching that title wouldn't have softened the impact of his death on his family, friends, and fans. But then again in all of our hearts, he was already a winner.

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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
Dragos Chitulescu profile photo

The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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