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This Is Ken Block's Last World Rallycross Championship Season

Everyone's favorite drifter is putting an end - or maybe he's just taking a break? - to his World Rallycross Championship career for now as the Hoonigan Racing team just announced it is dropping out of the competition next season.
Ken Block's Ford Focus RS RX 1 photo
Photo: Ken Block
Ken Block, the more famous of the team's two drivers (the second one being Andreas Bakkerud), isn't severing his long-lasting ties with Ford, however. After the company's racing division - Ford Performance - had backed the Hoonigan Racing team during the two years it was involved in FIA's rallycross tournaments, the successful pair will continue to work together on other projects.

“Although we have thoroughly enjoyed competing in the exciting FIA World Rallycross Championship, it’s a natural time for us to take a break as the future of the series takes shape,” said Dave Pericak, global director of Ford Performance. “To continue in [the championship] would have required the development of a new race car, and with so much discussion happening around the future of rallycross from a powertrain package standpoint, it made sense for us to pause until it’s better defined.”

That clearly leaves an open door for Ford's return to the competition one day, and after the sustained efforts for developing the Focus RS RX rallycross car, we can only imagine it wasn't an easy decision to make.

Ken Block also tackled the news by posting a collage of rallycross photos on Instagram together with a text meant to ease the worries of his fans and express his gratitude toward everyone involved with the team.

He made it quite clear that there will be no significant drop in the number of ways we can see him going sideways as he's going to keep featuring in "some stage rallies, Gymkhana GRID races, plus more rad video projects with Ford as usual." And if you don't know what he's on about, then maybe you should watch his latest clip: a heart-stopping Pikes Peak climb in a 1,400 hp heavily modified Ford Mustang.

 

Well, today is a tough one for me. Ford Performance and myself have announced that we will not be continuing our World Rallycross Championship race program after the end of this current season. It's been a tough two years of developing the Focus RS RX rallycross car, and I've learned a ton from that process - as well as from my teammate Andreas Bakkerud. I'll still be racing in 2018, but I'll be going back to doing some stage rallies, Gymkhana GRID races, plus more rad video projects with Ford as usual. As for Andreas, I wish him nothing but the best of luck next season. He's been an exemplary teammate, and has ended up becoming a very good friend of mine as well. Someone is going to be landing themselves a very, very talented driver next season! I'd also like to say a BIG thank you to my entire Hoonigan Racing team for their relentless effort and dedication these last two years. We've had some great experiences, and I'm both proud and thankful for all of the hard work you've all put in to help this program.

A post shared by Ken Block (@kblock43) on Oct 4, 2017 at 8:13am PDT

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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