F1 Academy driver Lia Block will return to rallying at the Lake Superior Performance Rally in Michigan on October 11-12, replacing Brandon Semenuk at the Subaru Motorsports USA team. Block won the Open 2WD class in the American Rally Association …
F1 Academy driver Lia Block will return to rallying at the Lake Superior Performance Rally in Michigan on October 11-12, replacing Brandon Semenuk at the Subaru Motorsports USA team.
Block won the Open 2WD class in the American Rally Association National series last season before transitioning to circuit racing in the all-female Formula 1 feeder series with support from the Williams F1 team. She took her best finishes of the season so far with a pair of fourth place finishes in Singapore on the weekend of September 21-22.
“Excited is an understatement for the feeling going into LSPR,” said Block. “Subaru and Vermont SportsCar have given me such a cool opportunity to compete at a rally in their top-level car.”
LSPR will be Block’s first event in the top-tier of American rallying, and she will drive the latest Subaru WRX STI at the event alongside Semenuk’s regular co-driver Keaton Williams. Her father, Ken Block, drove the car’s previous generation in 2021, winning the very same event – his first win there since 2006.
Block’s teammates will be Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino. Block made her Nitrocross Group E debut replacing Block at Glen Helen Raceway in 2023, while her 2023 rear-wheel-drive title triumph came with Gelsomino in the co-driver’s seat when Pastrana took a year out from stage competition.
“Rallying has always been my home. It’s my roots,” Block said. “My family and I have such a special history with this team, I wouldn’t want this milestone to be with anyone else. It’s been a while since I’ve competed in a rally car, but I’m looking forward to the challenge of learning my way around this insanely fast, top-level car.
“My goal for this upcoming weekend is to have fun, go fast, and finish the rally strong and comfortable.”
Aside from F1 Academy and rallying, Block has also competed in Nitrocross, where she raced in September’s season opener in Richmond, VA for the Dodge-backed Dreyer & Reinbold JC team, and Extreme E.
Although RACER broke the news in July of last year that a couple of Formula 1 teams had her on their radar, when Lia Block made the switch to open-wheel racing this year, moving into F1 Academy with backing from Williams, there was widespread …
Although RACER broke the news in July of last year that a couple of Formula 1 teams had her on their radar, when Lia Block made the switch to open-wheel racing this year, moving into F1 Academy with backing from Williams, there was widespread surprise around the racing world.
Usually, the road to the top of single-seater racing begins in karting, then moves onto things like F4. Block checked the karting box, but then won the top rear-wheel drive class of America’s national rallying championship, while also competing in the entry-level classes of Nitrocross and Extreme E. But the daughter of a rallying icon Ken Block always had here eye on a move into circuit racing.
“Not many people expected the big plot twist at the beginning of the year,” the 17-year-old tells RACER. “That was a big change for me, and a big decision. It was a big switch-up but so far, it’s been a good decision on my part.
“I’ve always wanted to race in open-wheel. I grew up watching F1 with my dad, and it’s just never really been an opportunity for me. I grew up doing a bit of karting, so this was my one big break. And working with Williams and a top F1 team, it’s been a great experience getting to know everybody in the team, how it works– the people I’ve met, the learning I’ve had within the sport, I would never regret just this year.”
Block, driving for European single-seater powerhouse ART Grand Prix, has already notched up four top-10 finishes in her first campaign in F1 Academy — the inaugural season of the all-female development category — with the first of those coming on home soil at the Miami Grand Prix. Learning has naturally been the name of the game in 2024, but with racing among more seasoned circuit racers, Block admits the year has been “challenging.”
Jordan McKean/Motorsport Images
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done,” she says. “There’s a strong field in F1 Academy. These girls have been racing for multiple years in the F4 championships as well as FRECA, so there’s lots of competition.
“But every race I’m learning more and more, and I’m getting closer and closer. My goal is always to win but, with my experience level there, I’ve just got to take it step by step. But I’ve been having a lot of fun.”
As well as driving a lower-powered car on a sealed surface, one of the biggest things she’s had to adjust to has been the finer margins in circuit racing, something she says comes down to becoming more patient.
“On the track, it’s such a knife’s edge that you have to walk … one tenth there, you’re like, ‘Oh, what the hell am I doing?’” she says. “I’ve had to learn so much, how this works, how a race weekend works, but mostly just the car, because it’s so underpowered compared to a F2 or F3 car, and obviously F1, so the momentum you have to carry, and all of the little things make such a big difference. I feel like I’m learning something every time I go out on the track.”
The tracks are another thing. Along with her lack of prior experience in a lower category, Block doesn’t have the luxury of being able to enter other races at a moment’s notice, since still lives in Utah with her family despite most of her racing being in Europe. While Block describes the extensive traveling as her “favorite part of the job,” she’s had to adjust quickly.
“It’s been especially hard for me, having to learn each track every time, because every time it’s new to me,” she admits. “Some of the girls may have been there and raced there before.
“It was a big struggle for me in Zandvoort because half of the grid did the British F4 Championship [there] a week or two before, so had lot more experience. I was going out there on a green track, just trying to figure my way around, and make sure I know where I was going.
“To be competitive is quite hard, but I like a challenge. So I keep pushing myself, even though I want to win, but it’s not going to work out that way.”
While her plans for next year aren’t yet settled, if Block runs another season in F1 Academy, she feels the knowledge she’s gained this year will be vital.
“I can’t really talk about next year just yet, but if it is going to be F1 Academy again, it will be definitely helpful that I’ve been to the tracks before,” she says. “I assume that the calendar won’t be exactly this, but I’ll still have a little bit more familiarity with some parts of it.”
A great sidebar to her F1 Academy program was a chance for Lia Block to drive Williams-Cosworth FW08 at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Motorsport Images
Although racing in F1 Academy has been Block’s main focus since joining Williams’ driver development program, being aligned with one of F1’s most storied teams has afforded her other opportunities — such as driving Keke Rosberg’s 1982 championship-winning FW08 at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Not only was it her first taste of F1, it came at a place where her late father had become a popular fixture. It also came 13 years after he was denied the chance to test a Toyota F1 car with Pirelli because his legs were too long.
“It’s so cool that they let me drive that car,” Block says, her face lighting up at the mere mention of the opportunity. “It’s a very expensive, very old car, but they let me have a go in it.
“To do it at Goodwood was a really cool experience. And to even share the car with our two F1 drivers as well as my team principal, it was just a really cool experience for me all round. I don’t know who else gets to do that. That was a highlight of my career, right there.
“I think the last time I was there, I was six years old, so I didn’t remember much of it. So it was quite cool to go there, knowing my dad has raced up that hill numerous times with a lot of different cars than I was in, it’s quite a cool place.”
Williams doesn’t just restrict Block to single-seaters though, as you might expect of an F1 team. In the first weekend of September she paused her preparations for the next F1 Academy races in Singapore to return to more familiar surroundings, racing once again in Nitrocross at Richmond Raceway.
“I’m thankful enough that Williams allows me to go out of the series and do rallycross and other things like that,” she says. “It’s definitely a switch-up.”
Block made her debut in Group E, the series’ top class, towards the end of last season, taking series pioneer Travis Pastrana’s seat at Vermont SportsCar on the second day of racing at Glen Helen Raceway.
This time, it wasn’t a brief cameo. She was racing for the reigning champion team Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, with backing from Dodge (pictured below), for both days of the event as well as the two days of pre-event testing.
Qnigan/Nitrocross photo
“I definitely had a little bit more time to adjust to the car this time instead of just one session,” she says. “But, yeah, coming back from an F1 Academy car to these cars, they definitely feel like a big, heavy boat. They just rock side-to-side.
“It’s definitely different, and I have to change my mindset to what I’ve been doing this entire year. But it’s nice to know that I’ve already driven the car before, and coming in already did the gap jump — this one’s just a little bit bigger. And this track was pretty technical, honestly, but it was a nice mix of tarmac and dirt, so I didn’t feel too uncomfortable.”
It’s a world she knows, but it might as well be a different planet compared to what she’s been doing all year. That being said, Block says there are benefits to jumping back into a rallycross car after months of slicks and wings.
“Obviously seat time is seat time in any car. You have a wheel in your hands and a throttle and brake, so obviously you can take some things over but I kind of switch off one side of my brain,” she explains. “It’s just a different mindset, and the way you go into the way the car works, it’s all different.
“But I’m thankful, growing up, being able to do all these different series, racing different cars, I can kind of do that pretty automatically. I don’t feel the jump, so I guess that’s good, F1 Academy didn’t take that out of me.”
Lia Block will move up to Nitrocross’s headline Group E category at Glen Helen Raceway this Sunday, becoming both the youngest driver in the category’s history, and the first female to race in it, too. Block will replace Travis Pastrana at Vermont …
Lia Block will move up to Nitrocross’s headline Group E category at Glen Helen Raceway this Sunday, becoming both the youngest driver in the category’s history, and the first female to race in it, too.
Block will replace Travis Pastrana at Vermont SportsCar for the second part of the Southern California doubleheader, a poignant move given that her father, the late Ken Block, began his rallying career with the outfit.
“From first starting Nitrocross when I was 14 years old to now, three years later, being in the top class is crazy to think about,” said Block. “I’ve always wanted to do the gap jump ever since I started. This feels very much like full circle and I’m so thankful for Travis and the team at Vermont Sportscar to give me this opportunity to race at the top. I can’t wait to give it my all this weekend at Glen Helen!”
Block’s upcoming maiden appearance in Group E caps off a stellar year for the 17-year-old, who won the Open 2WD category in the American Rally Association series, and has raced in Nitrocross’ NEXT category, taking her first podium in Phoenix in November. She also contested the majority of the Extreme E season for Carl Cox Motorsport alongside Timo Scheider, taking a best result of fifth at the second Island X Prix in Sardinia.
Block’s Group E debut reinforces Nitrocross and Pastrana’s commitment to giving young females more opportunities in top-level off-road racing, too, and comes after Nitrocross Side-by-Side driver and former ARX2 competitor Gray Leadbetter got some seat time in the 1,000 horsepower FC1-X Group E machine at Mid-America Outdoors in Oklahoma over the summer.
“Lia is a quick study and an amazing talent. Ken gave me the opportunity to shine by allowing me to star in his Gymkhana videos and now with the help of my team at Vermont SportsCar we couldn’t be more excited to give Lia this opportunity to race alongside the best drivers in the world at the wheel of my Group E car,” said Pastrana. “She can be anywhere she wants to be, not because of the resources she has or who her father was. She’s going to be that good because she believes she can with confidence I’ve never seen and a natural ability to find speed where others can’t. She will do her best as Lia Block, not as Ken’s daughter, but as her own legacy.”
While most of Block’s experience has been in the rallying and off-road arenas, next year Block will race for ART Grand Prix under the Williams Racing banner in the F1 Academy open-wheel series. Nevertheless, despite the impending move to circuit racing — which comes off the back of several years of karting and multiple open-wheel tests — Block has insisted the door isn’t closed on future Nitrocross and rallying outings.
“No, absolutely not,” Block told media that included RACER at last weekend’s Extreme E season finale in Chile. “There are seven rounds [of F1 Academy] and we have tests in-between them, but there is some spare time to maybe go and do one-off rallies or do a Nitrocross race.
“I’m open to anything, and even Jame [Vowles, Williams Racing team principal] has told me, ‘Go and do whatever you want — seat time’s seat time,’ obviously. So always being in a car is a good thing.”
Williams Racing has announced that Lia Block will represent the team in the F1 Academy series next year. The daughter of the late rallying legend Ken Block will drive for ART Grand Prix, the team that will also be running McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante …
Williams Racing has announced that Lia Block will represent the team in the F1 Academy series next year. The daughter of the late rallying legend Ken Block will drive for ART Grand Prix, the team that will also be running McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante in the F1 support series aimed at preparing female drivers to progress to higher levels of competition.
“I am so excited to be joining the Williams Driver Academy and competing in F1 Academy in 2024,” said the 17-year-old. “This is something I never could have dreamed of. I can’t wait to embrace this new experience and learn as much as possible.”
As well as racing under the Williams banner in F1 Academy, Block will also work closely with the F1 team at its Grove, UK base.
“We are excited to welcome Lia to Williams Racing as our F1 Academy driver for 2024,” said Williams team principal James Vowles. “Lia has already achieved a tremendous amount in motorsport, has incredible natural talent, and the champion mindset and dedication to make a success of her journey into open-wheel racing.
“We cannot wait to get started on this journey together. As a team, we are committed to Formula 1 and F1 Academy’s joint efforts to improve female representation in motorsport, and we look forward to working with Lia as a key part of the Williams Racing Driver Academy.”
While Block’s career to date has almost exclusively been in the off-road arena — combining championship-winning runs in the American Rally Association’s Open 2WD class with campaigns in Nitrocross and Extreme E — she has previously expressed an interest in circuit racing, as well as competing in karting events since she was 11 and testing open-wheel cars in the last couple of years.
News of Block joining the Williams fold comes after RACER revealed in July that two F1 teams were keeping an eye on her progress. Derek Dauncey, who has long worked with the Block family as a mentor and team manager, said at the time that Block had a “big interest” when it came to potentially racing in F1, adding that she is “not like her dad” and that when it came to driving, she is the “anti-Ken.”
Upon Williams’ announcement, Dauncey took to Instagram to say he was “Extremely proud of Lia.
“Her talent has been noticed at the highest level of motorsport,” he said. “I would personally like to thank Williams Racing Sven Smeets, James Vowles and James Matthews for the this opportunity and trust shown in Lia.”
She might only be 16, but Lia Block is already building up quite the motorsport resume. The eldest of the late rally and Gymkhana icon Ken Block’s three children has already been turning heads on the national rallying scene in the States, taking …
She might only be 16, but Lia Block is already building up quite the motorsport resume.
The eldest of the late rally and Gymkhana icon Ken Block’s three children has already been turning heads on the national rallying scene in the States, taking three class wins from four this year, and dominated on her recent appearance in Nitrocross’ second-tier NEXT class only for a post-race ruling to stamp out a comfortable win.
Last weekend she made her debut in Extreme E in Sardinia, adding another string to her ever-expanding bow.
“It’s definitely crazy,” Block tells RACER of her Extreme E debut. “I came in with not too high of expectations. I’m just trying to do what I always do, which is just put my head down and try to put some lap times down and just learn as much as possible and as little time as possible.
“I actually had a lot of fun this weekend, going in a new car, new team, new series, new competitors, everything. So, brand new, but at the same time, I did feel very much at home in this series.”
Seeing Block integrate herself into the Extreme E paddock right away was hardly surprising for those of us on the outside looking in – she grew up in track paddocks and rally service parks – but even for someone who’s lived and breathed top-level motorsport for her entire life, getting on-track with some of the sport’s biggest names was a big moment for her.
“The biggest thing for me was coming in here and seeing big names like Sebastien Loeb, and getting to race against my ‘brother’, Andreas [Bakkerud, her father’s teammate in World Rallycross], and, all the big names and drivers that I’ve watched race my dad or just on TV when I was younger, so it was a really cool experience,” she says. “And the car is definitely like nothing I’ve ever driven before. Same with the track, like mixed rally, rallycross, circuit racing, off-road, altogether mixing this one thing? Yeah, it was just really cool.”
It didn’t take long for her to make an impression on that track, either. She held a best sector time for much of the very first session of the weekend, only for a late charge by Mattias Ekstrom – a World Rallycross and two-time DTM champion, no less – to turn her purple sector to green late on. Everyone in the paddock was impressed, but Block? She wasn’t surprised.
“To be honest, not really, I pick up things really fast,” she explains. “I was honestly, in the beginning, frustrated a little bit – coming in, new, when everybody else has been in the series for a while, or at least had one race under the belt. I was just focused on myself, just trying to learn the car and the track and how it handles everything.”
She wasn’t the only one who knew the speed was there, either. Derek Dauncey has known Block since she was born, having worked with her father for over 16 years, mentoring him and overseeing his Hoonigan Racing Division team.
“Over the last four weeks, we’ve done Southern Ohio rally, ticked the box there and won the class,” Dauncey tells RACER. “We went to Nitro, and Nitro was like a real baptism of fire. What we’ve done is, we’ve chucked her into the fire for the last four weeks, in theory, and she comes out without a scorch mark on her.
“She’s got a very strong attitude. She has a very good confidence in her ability. One of the biggest driving forces, and we’ve had chats about it, is basically if your mind is not there, if you doubt yourself, you’re never going to be quick.”
Block had plenty of speed in her recent Nitrocross outing, only to be derailed by a post-race ruling. Image via Nitrocross
The confidence is evident, and the natural ability is something that’s been there since her very first run in a car too, as Dauncey shares.
“She always wanted to drive her Mom’s car, so always just said to her that you can only drive it when you can press the clutch pedal fully down, then we’ll see. Of course, that came around quite quickly,” he says.
“So we put her into the rally school at Tim O’Neil’s, and within half an hour, they phoned me – we were testing up the top with the rally cars and Lia was on the school. I trust all the instructors, but Chris Komar, I worked with, because I worked with Ken at Subaru USA from 2005, so I knew him for 16 years – Chris phoned me and said. ‘you’ve gotta come down.’
“So I went down there, and he didn’t say anything, just said ‘watch this.’ Lia had six other drivers, I won’t say who they were, but two of them were good drivers, and the way she handled the car, backed it in… he was really impressed. So the next day we put her into her mom’s car, which is the R2 car.
“I did the young driver program at Mitsubishi,” he adds. “It’s very difficult to tell parents that their son or daughter won’t make it. But there’s a real feelgood factor here.”
When testing the R2 Ford Fiesta the next day, she continued to impress.
“We set up a full stage, an Olympus test road that we normally use, and I sat with her,” Dauncey recalls. “And if I didn’t know who she was, I’d swear somebody was ringing me, because the experience and talent that she had on that one run I’ll never ever forget.
“If the person hasn’t got speed, you’re going to struggle. She had speed but also, which is really important, is she had a real good feel for grip and where the grip was, even on that test stage, straightaway. So I phoned Ken back up, who is in the hotel, he came down at the end of the day and I said ‘we have an option here.’
“It was a pleasant surprise, but all she’s done since then, she’s just excelled.”
Being the daughter of one of the biggest names in motorsport over the last 20 years, it’d be easy to think her talent is simply genetic. But ask her, and she’ll immediately insist she’s her own person with her own aims. Dauncey sees things differently, too.
“You watch the videos, and she’s a bit anti-Ken,” he says. “Her lines are beautiful and she’s basically carrying loads of momentum. And you can see on the stage results. The biggest problem with a young driver is obviously we see this zigzag of stage times. In Oregon, I think she did a fifth, fourth, third, third, second, second, third, fourth – that’s overall time, not class time. So the speed is there, and her consistency is really good.”
With the name Block, and an impressive showing in multiple forms of loose surface competition already, you’d figure that she’d have a nailed on future in rallying, but that might not necessarily be the case. Block knows the motorsport world is her oyster, but she knows she’s got plenty of time to figure it out, too.
“Honestly, I’m so young right now… I don’t really know where I want to go,” she admits. “I have been doing some open-wheel stuff, and I’ve been karting since I was really little, but I’ve also done rally, rallycross, and now Extreme E, but ultimately, I think a world championship of some sort, you know, whether that’s F1, WRC, or World Rallycross.
Block admits that Extreme E was a step into the unknown, but it was also a chance to bank more experience as she works towards a future somewhere on motorsport’s world stage. Colin McMaster/Motorsport Images
“I think that I’m going to have to figure out what path I want to go down in the next couple of years. But eventually, I want to be racing with the top, top [drivers].
“I’ve been karting since I was 11. And I’ve done multiple open-wheel tests. I do you really love circuit racing, but just depends if I have the speed or not.”
Dauncey adds: “Time’s an enemy as we go along. Every year that goes by, or every six months goes by, some people can say it cuts this off, it shuts this down, but at the moment, if you look at where the feelgood factor is for her and how quick she is, we haven’t really dispelled one of them formally yet.
“She’s quick in rallies, quick in rallycross, Pikes Peak could be interesting, there’s some interest asking about Le Mans, we’ve done some open-wheel stuff with her and she’s done fairly well at that. The family have a decision to make in a couple of months time, because we need to be sure, if we’re moving formula or going back to rally, we need to come up with a plan for next year.”
Block’s unprompted mention of Formula 1 was a curious one. Of course, her father famously was in line for an F1 test with Pirelli at the end of 2011, only for his six-foot frame to prove too tall for the Toyota TF109 that the Italian firm was using at the time. But could she make the move, for real, instead?
“I think I think that there’s an interest there, there’s a big interest there,” Dauncey says. “I mean, it’s a big effort to get through karting and come up through the formulas. And you look at the amount of money that’s thrown into that. But again, it’s something that we are looking at.
“I spoke to George Russell’s management in the early part of the year… you’ve got to be, like, $6 million down to basically to get to somewhere where one of the junior academies look at you, [but] we have two academies watching her.
“The interesting thing is, basically, she’s not like her dad. She’s looking at open-wheel. But also, he was very happy – the discussion, I got a text message that we were bouncing back just before Christmas, he was going to be very happy to go follow her and sit in the stands and watch her around the track. So the conversation we had in October was he wanted to give the three of them, – because Mika [Lia’s younger brother], he’s also car-mad and could be something different – he wanted to give all three of them the opportunity to succeed in life.
“So with Lia, I know that she’s got massive, massive options in rally or off-road. Formula 1 will take more effort. I wouldn’t shut the door to everything. It’d be very difficult.”
But for now, at least, the focus remains on the loose surfaces. Block, along with her mother Lucy, will be contesting this weekend’s New England Forest Rally. It’s then back to Nitrocross in Utah in August, before a return to the Extreme E fold in September.
“I think this one was just basically a practice round, you know,” Block says, reflecting on the past weekend. “It started off okay, but then definitely got a lot better throughout the weekend.
“The takeaway for me is really just experience. It’s something new. And just, this is a practice round. So we take everything I’ve learned and take it into the next race.”
Lia Block will join the Extreme E field from this weekend’s Island X Prix in Sardinia, joining Carl Cox Motorsport to contest the all-electric off-road series. Block, daughter of rallying and Gymkhana legend Ken Block, will drive alongside two-time …
Lia Block will join the Extreme E field from this weekend’s Island X Prix in Sardinia, joining Carl Cox Motorsport to contest the all-electric off-road series.
Block, daughter of rallying and Gymkhana legend Ken Block, will drive alongside two-time DTM champion and World Rallycross regular Timo Scheider, replacing Extreme E veteran Christine Giampaoli Zonca in the team which secured its first podium at the third round of the season in Scotland in May.
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“I am thrilled to be making my Extreme E debut at the next round in Sardinia for the Island X Prix,” said Block. “It is a huge opportunity to race for Carl Cox Motorsport and I cannot wait to get behind the wheel and out on the course.
“I am eager to do my best for the team and score some good results. “I am really looking forward to working alongside Timo, who I have known for years, and the rest of the team — it is going to be my first race outside of the USA, and up against so many big names in the sport, but I am looking forward to the challenge and keen to get started.”
Carl Cox Motorsport team principal Alon Shulman added, “You can only be impressed with Lia’s determination and skill behind the wheel, and be excited by her natural ability and potential. We’re delighted that she has joined the team and are looking forward to welcoming her to the Carl Cox Motorsport paddock in Sardinia.”
While only 16, Block has already built up an impressive driving resume. This year she has been contesting the Open two-wheel-drive class of the American Rally Association National series this year alongside Rhianon Gelsomino. She started the season with a second in class at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, and has since taken three consecutive class wins at the Olympus Rally, Oregon Trail Rally and Southern Ohio Forest Rally.
Block showed strongly on her Nitrocross NEXT debut in Oklahoma recently. Qnigan/Nitrocross
She also made her Nitrocross NEXT debut last month in Oklahoma (pictured above), having previously competed in the series’ Sierra Car and Side-by-Side classes. She won on the road in the second round of the 2023-24 season opener, only to be excluded post-race for rejoining the track in an unsafe manner after early race contact.
Block’s Extreme E debut also continues a long-running relationship between the family and the series, with Ken Block being one of the first to drive the series’ Odyssey 21 race car when he gave it its first competitive public outing at the 2020 Dakar rally.
“We are delighted that Lia will be making her Extreme E debut in Sardinia,” said Extreme E’s chief championship officer James Taylor. “Lia is a huge motorsport talent and her career to date has been extremely impressive. She will join a world-class group of drivers on the Extreme E roster, but I am sure will not be daunted out on the course.
“Lia’s arrival into Extreme E is a particularly evocative moment for us given her father, Ken, was the first driver to race our car, when he raced a stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally.”
Block’s addition to the Extreme E field makes her the youngest driver to race in the series, usurping fellow American Amanda Sorensen who debuted aged 20 earlier this season. She will also be the second high-profile driver addition for this weekend after reigning champion Sebastien Loeb was confirmed to be making a one-off return in place of Nasser Al-Attiyah, who is contesting the Baja World Cup on the same weekend.
Lia Block will continue to follow in her father’s footsteps by contesting the second-tier Nitrocross NEXT category at this weekend’s Visions off-road festival in Oklahoma. The late rally driver’s eldest child has already competed on the Nitrocross …
Lia Block will continue to follow in her father’s footsteps by contesting the second-tier Nitrocross NEXT category at this weekend’s Visions off-road festival in Oklahoma.
The late rally driver’s eldest child has already competed on the Nitrocross bill, racing in the short-lived Sierra Cars class – taking third place on her debut – and the side-by-side category over the last two seasons, but this will be the 16-year-old’s highest-profile rallycross foray to-date.
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“I’m so excited to compete in Nitrocross this season. I’ve gotten a taste of the intense, door-to-door action that Travis and Nitro Circus have cooked up, especially racing side-by-sides last year,” she said. “Now, I look forward to the challenge of stepping things up and battling in the NEXT class against other talent from around the world. This is a true dream come true, after watching my dad race rallycross from such a young age.”
Block will drive for Olsbergs MSE, a world-leading rallycross outfit that not only built the RX Lites car she will be racing in the single-make category, but a number of her father’s early Ford race cars, including the Gymkhana 3 Fiesta.
While best-known as a rally driver at both domestic and World level, Ken Block also competed in rallycross. He was a six-time winner in the Global Rallycross series, won on his only European Rallycross outing, and scored two podiums in the World Rallycross championship.
Lia meanwhile has been making waves in the American Rally Association National series this year, driving a Subaru BRZ alongside Rhianon Gelsomino in the Open two-wheel-drive class. After taking second in class at the season-opening Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, she’s taken three consecutive class wins at the Olympus Rally, Oregon Trail Rally, and Southern Ohio Forest Rally.
Lia Block, daughter of the late Ken Block, will drive the “Hoonipigasus” Porsche at this year’s Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Ken Block was scheduled to drive the 1,400 horsepower, four-wheel-drive machine at last year’s hillclimb, which would …
Lia Block, daughter of the late Ken Block, will drive the “Hoonipigasus” Porsche at this year’s Pikes Peak International Hillclimb.
Ken Block was scheduled to drive the 1,400 horsepower, four-wheel-drive machine at last year’s hillclimb, which would have been his first start in the event since 2005. Unfortunately, engine failure in the lead-up curtailed the plans, and with Block’s death in January, hopes of a competitive run for the car were all but ended.
However, Lia, who at 16 is oldest of the rally driver’s three children, will take the car up the mountain in a non-competitive ‘tribute run’ in June, and Hoonigan – the automotive lifestyle clothing and media brand started by her father – has hinted that a future entry into the famous hillclimb event could be on the cards.
“The tribute run will not be timed, as Lia admits that it will take a substantial amount of training to pilot a race car of that caliber up one of the world’s most intimidating hill climb races – something she aims to accomplish in the future,” said Hoonigan in a statement. “However, Lia’s goal for this year is to honor her father Ken Block’s vision of taking the Hoonipigasus to the top of Pikes Peak; while giving the fans the sights and sounds of the ultimate Porsche 911 racecar build.”
The Hoonipigasus – an amalgamation of Block’s Hoonigan brand, Mobil 1’s Pegasus motif, and the 1971 Porsche 917/20 “pink pig” that raced at Le Mans and provides the inspiration for the car’s livery – reportedly started life as a 1966 Porsche 912 and was built in collaboration with Porsche specialists BBi Autosport, which has been behind other Porsches that have raced at Pikes Peak in the past.
As well as the substantial ramp-up in power for the 911-derived four-liter twin-turbo flat-six – which is mid-mounted – and a drop in weight to just 1,000 kg thanks to extensive use of carbon fiber, the car also has suspension that is adjusted in real-time by GPS using data from previous Pikes Peak runs.
Ahead of the Pikes Peak appearance, the Hoonipigasus will be on display this Sunday at the Air | Water event at Luftgekuhlt 9 in Vallejo, CA, on Sunday, April 30.
Lia, meanwhile, has been carrying on her father’s legacy in motorsport with occasional appearances in Nitro Rallycross’ side-by-side class, and by contesting stage rallies in the U.S.
Last weekend she finished first in the Open 2-wheel-drive class and seventh overall at the Olympus Rally, driving a Subaru BRZ alongside Rhiannon Gelsomino. Her mother Lucy has also continued to compete in rallies, and finished fourth at Olympus in the Limited 4-wheel-drive class (10th overall) in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 alongside Alex Gelsomino, who was Ken Block’s co-driver for nearly two decades.
