In the early hours of January 2 to 3, 2023, the world of motorsport received one of the harshest news that could be expected: the death of Ken Block, the great star who had made thousands of fans of two and four wheels hallucinate. with his way of understanding the hobby that he himself had based on skids and spectacular choreographies in his now legendary gymkhanas. A businessman in his origins, a true enthusiast who, in addition to what he achieved in the gymkhanas, climbed to the top of motorsports in several disciplines.
Little more needs to be said about the figure of Ken Block: in business he was very successful as co-founder of the DC Shoes firm, owned by Quiksilver for some years. Once he became interested in competition and rallying, in addition to gymkhanas, he did not turn back, becoming a regular driver in the American Rally Championship. In fact, he progressed to racing with Subaru and Ford in the World Rally Championship. He never achieved outstanding results, but he was always a figure who attracted masses, with more followers than the world champions Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb themselves (on social networks, at least).
He also got to race in the World Rallycross Championship, in that two-year project with Ford at an official level with Hoonigan Racing Division in the Ford Focus RX Supercar manufactured in record time by M-Sport, the same ones that had manufactured the Fiesta RS WRC of the World Rally Championship. A particular car being much longer than the others but also had podium potential and Block reached several event finals against some of the best drivers in the world. He was also, of course, a family man, one who managed to pass on the desire for racing to both his wife Lucy and his daughter Lia, who seems to inherit the mantle in the world of competition. He has not only taken the ‘Hoonipigasus’ to the top of Pikes Peak but has also been signed by Williams for the F1 Academy.
Ken Block’s legacy will continue in racing through his daughter Lia, who did some of the drifts of the last gymkhanas as a teenager – and now opts more for the circuits, having an interesting opportunity at just 16 years old. the F1 Academy can offer. And it is precisely this last gymkhana that we are going to talk about, this Electrikhana 2 that was recorded in December 2022, just a few weeks before her fateful accident. For this occasion, Block once again took the wheel of the Audi S1 Hoonitron, the electric prototype inspired by the Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 from Group B rallies.
For this occasion, which no one imagined would be the last, Hoonigan and Ken Block took the Audi S1 Hoonitron to the streets of Mexico City, starting their gymkhana in the bullring of one of the largest cities in the world. The rest of the video… we are not going to give you spoilers. You have to see it and enjoy it, being the latest from the genius who has managed to reinvent motor exhibition, spectacle and digital marketing in his own way. Having Mexico City, in all its splendor, as his playground for his wild skids and choreography, Ken was enjoying and making people enjoy.
All told, not everyone likes electric ones – in fact, there are many people who don’t like them at all, preferring millions of times the sound and feel of gasoline engines. Being Block, even with out-of-tune cars he was able to make people enjoy movements and craziness. The benefits of electric motors also help, since they deliver torque linearly and instantaneously, being able to have brutal power without having to pay attention to the power curve as happens with internal combustion cars – in the same way. in which electric motors make all the sense in the world in rallycross racing. Therefore, in this gymkhana, the Audi S1 Hoonitron is really in its element.
The same video reminds us of each of his gymkhanas, from the first one that surprised the world in 2008 on a YouTube that was still in its infancy – Block being, in a certain sense, one of those content creators who were already doing wonders in the early days. years of the well-known video platform – until the most recent, that of the Audi S1 Hoonitron in Las Vegas. Along the way there are all those gymkhanas with Ford and Subaru, highlighting, for example, the one he did in 2017 on the climb to Pikes Peak with the ‘Hoonicorn’, a brutal Ford Mustang prepared with a V8 engine that produced about 1,400 horsepower. Perhaps one of the most iconic, skidding just inches from the cliffs as he climbed the mountain (even then the climb was completely paved, instead of being on dirt as in the past).
His Hoonigans, along with the brand with the four rings, thus pay a final tribute to someone who has given them so much over the last 15 years. A man who has marked an era and sounded strong throughout the world – also in the record of the American Rally Championship, of which he was runner-up in both 2021 and 2022, the last year with the Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC against the official Subarus – in fact, if he hadn’t crossed an animal at the end of the Lake Superior Performance Rally, he would surely have been champion in what ended up being his last rally.
We hope you enjoy this Electrikhana 2 to the fullest, one last show on the streets of Mexico to remember the legend – a surname that we will see in F1 Academy and other categories given that Lia Block has also competed this year in Extreme E against drivers like Laia Sanz, Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, Johan Kristoffersson, Cristina Gutiérrez, Christine GZ, Mattias Ekström, the brothers Timmy and Kevin Hansen or, in some tests, Sébastien Loeb. Kristoffersson and Ahlin-Kottulinsky have been this year’s champions, reclaiming the crown for Rosberg X Racing.
