IF you are enthusiastic about rally driving the chances are you have heard of Ken Block. The much celebrated and highly revered professional American rally driver founded the Hoonigan Racing Division, which was formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team. Besides being a well-known figure in rally racing, Block competes in other action sport events, including snowboarding, skateboarding and motocross.
In 2010 the Monster World Rally Team announced that Ken Block was going to be their driver for several rounds of the World Rally Championship. In the championship Block was campaigning for the Monster/Ford Racing Focus RS WRC 08. The same year, Block simultaneously ran for this sixth season of the Rally America Championship in an open class Ford Fiesta. Block was also the first American driver to campaign for the World Rally Championship. It could be said that much of Ken Block’s talent and success can be pinned on the fact that Block has been trained by the former Ford factory driver, Markko Martin. The Estonian driver shot to prominence with the Ford World Rally Team in 2002. The Ford World Rally Team is Ford’s full factory World Rally Championship team.
The famed American rallycross and gymkhana drivers’ association with Ford reached new heights earlier this year when Block worked with Ford and Los Angeles-based tuner Fifteen 52 to create a Ford Focus ST, dubbed the Project Focus TrackSter. The TrackSter is one of a three car line-up that offer heightened performance for both street driving and full-on competition. This 2.0-litre direct-injected turbo four comprises of new forged rods and pistons, turbo plumbing and an intercooler with a larger Garratt turbocharger. The 250 horsepower TrackSter was completed just in time for the 2013 Chicago Auto Show.
In racing Ford cars and being involved in creating them, the prominent American rally driver’s enthusiasm and commitment is well illustrated and clear, but what exactly feeds Ken Block’s love affair with Ford?
Much of Block’s unwavering commitment to driving and being associated with Ford is likely to stem from the fact that Ford has a long and successful history in rallying. While Ford has a colourful and spectacular past in many motorsport disciplines, it is in rallying which the auto manufacturer has a particularly compelling story. Ford’s relationship with rallying dates back to the 1950s when Ford made its mark on the sport with a string of wins with the six-cylinder Zephyrs. In 1953 rally driver Maurice Gatsonides won the Monte Carlo rally and subsequently Ford and rallying have never looked back.
