Stats:
Ken Block
Number: 43
Birth Date: 11/21/1967
Resides: Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 185 lbs.
Car: 2008 Subaru WRX STI Prepared by Vermont Sportscar
Sponsors: DC, Subaru, SPT, STi, Motul Lubricants, Alpinestars, PIAA, Recaro, Monster Energy, Spy Optic, Vermont SportsCar
Co-Driver: Alessandro Gelsomino

Bio:
Ken Block has been a car enthusiast for as long as he can remember and has been a fan of rally racing since he was young. Ken drove like a rally fanatic since he first learned to drive by “borrowing” his parents’ cars, jumping and sliding them around. When Ken got older he bought a VW GTI and drifted it around in the snow while he lived in the mountains as a snowboard bum.

When DC-sponsored freestyle motocross superstar Travis Pastrana decided to try his hand at rally racing, Ken ensured DC’s support of his rally racing efforts. In doing so Ken seized the opportunity to fulfill his own personal dream and passion for rally racing, and began training for the professional circuit.

In the 2005 rally season, Ken gave Travis and the rest of the rally circuit some unexpected competition. Block’s rigorous rally training with Vermont SportsCar ensured strong finishes at nearly every rally he entered.

With solid finishes throughout the season, including five top-5 results, Ken’s first year on the Rally America National Championship proved to be incredible. He completed the season 3rd in Group N (3rd only to the current US champion Pat Richard and former World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist) and fourth overall. He also earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2005, which is not bad for someone who first stepped into a rally car in October 2004, and whose first national race was in January 2005.

For 2006, Ken Block and DC rally teammate Travis Pastrana landed a new sponsorship deal with Subaru that earned them the title “Subaru Rally Team USA.” Ken’s continued to race exceptionally well this season in his 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi, which was prepared by Vermont SportsCar.

At X Games 12 in 2006, Rally Racing was added as the event’s newest sporting category. Ken kicked off his first experience as an X Games competitor by taking the Bronze medal. Entering the Rally Racing finals at X Games, Ken sat just one second ahead of 4th place and needed to put together a solid stage time if he wanted to reach the podium. Ken held down his 3rd place position that Saturday by smoothly drifting his Subaru across the asphalt sections and handling the dirt track with ease, while still putting on a good show by throwing out massive dirt roosts inside the Home Depot Center. Having first set foot in a rally car only two-years prior to the event, Ken proved his passion could lead to success, taking home the Bronze.

He finished off the rest of 2006 by taking 2nd overall in the Rally America National Championship… a banner year for Ken.

In 2007 the support from Subaru Rally Team USA continued, and Ken had another great year. He took the silver medal at X Games 13, and 3rd overall in the Rally America National Championship.

Between all the official competitive rally events, Ken has also found some time to have some fun with his rally car. In 2007 he jumped his car 171 feet for the Discovery Channel show Stunt Junkies. “…they were focusing a whole episode around me figuring out how to jump the rally car a long distance. That sounded fun, so I worked out some simple physics calculations of speed, angle and distance, applied them to a motocross jump, and ended up jumping the car 171 feet, with the max height about 25 feet off the ground.” Check out the footage in the video section on this site.

The fun continued in New Zealand at a snowboarding park called Snow Park.
There, he joined the DC snowboard team for a park session consisting of Subaru-assisted jibbing, toe-ats, and uphill 540s. After getting their fill of that, the team and Ken started hitting kickers side by side. The fruits of the unprecedented sessions: amazing memories, the cover of the December 2007 issue of Snowboarder Magazine, and some amazing footage to close out the MTN.LAB 1.5 DVD. He even cracked his L2 vertebrae and destroyed his rally car ($50 G’s worth) after landing on the flats the final day.

Despite the injury and the totaled machine, it was also another way for Ken and his team riders to share mutual passions—snowboarding and rally car driving—and have a great time in the process! “In all the experiences I've ever had, it truly was one of the most fun things I've ever done,” Ken said. This footage, three pieces, also appears in the video section on this site.

Most recently, Ken joined Travis for another innovative jump session in Utah. “Travis and I together on Subaru Rally Team USA is just an interesting combination of people, especially with our backgrounds and in the things that we’ve done in the past couple years with the Rally car and Motocross. As a team goes, we are probably one of the most dynamic motorsports teams in the world. That’s why I really love the fact of having Travis as a teammate. I came up with that idea of having the car jump with Travis doing the back flip over it just because I thought it would make a really unique photo. It accentuates the two of us together, him from his Moto and FMX background and me from a Moto and Rally background. That photo sort of puts all that together in one shot. I pitched the idea to Travis and Greg Godfrey (of Godfrey Entertainment) for us to get together and do all this… film it, shoot it and just basically have a good time of Travis and I screwing around with our Rally car and dirt bike out in Utah for a couple days. We ended up with a lot of great footage at the Bonneville Salt Flats and then at this jump. The footage when the movie comes out will be very dynamic and shows us having a really good time with combining these two sports together.”

What’s next for Ken Block and his growing Rally career? For 2008 he’s continuing his charge for the National Championship and will be in it to win it at X Games 14 in August. “I want to also get into more international events and see how I do.”

As a member of Subaru Rally Team USA you are now behind the wheel of the new ’08 Subaru WRX STI. Can you feel a drastic performance difference with the car?
The biggest difference that I feel between this car and last year's model is the handling. The new body style has a longer wheelbase, a wider track between wheels, and better weight distribution between the front and rear. It also has new double wishbone suspension on the rear. It handles better, is more stable, and is able to push to higher speeds. Now I very familiar with it and really enjoying it.

You and Travis go back and forth when it comes to rally results. Sometime he comes out on top and sometime you do. Which one of you has a better chance at the title this year?
Wow.... tough question. I will admit though that Travis is definitely faster than I am. But, I think I am more consistent and make less mistakes (i.e. not flipping my car 8 times!). It's fun for both of us to be competitive with each other out there racing. Travis is ridiculously competitive and it's fun to beat him in some of the stages. Plus, I won a race before he did!(I just love to say that because I know how much it kills him.) But, in the long run, I think that Travis has tremendous talent and potential to go to the highest levels of this sport.

Ken, how did you get into rally racing?
I've been a car enthusiast for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite types of car racing to watch on TV has always been rally. I have been a fan of it since I was really young. I'm not sure why I've always liked it ... maybe it's the sliding and jumping of the cars that isn't really found anywhere else in car racing.

I even bought a VW GTI in the eighties and slid it around in the snow when I had a chance. Of course, I had no idea what the hell I was doing, but it sure was fun!

In the summer of 2004, DC began to sponsor Travis Pastrana, who, as well as being a motocross freestyle and Supercross star, is an avid rally car racer. I worked closely on the deal and I made sure to include us in his rally racing efforts.

I knew this was my big chance. What better excuse to do something that's always been a dream of mine---go rally race AND do it with one of our biggest athletes! I mean, it is my job to go hang out and entertain our athletes, right?

So, I made a call to the company that handles Travis' rallying efforts for Subaru America, Vermont Sports Car. I told them that I wanted to race with Travis in 2005, and to let me know what I needed to do to get there.

They put me through two different classes with two former US champions, Tim O'Neal---he has a private school in New Hampshire---and John Buffum, the winning-est rally driver in US history. It was quite an education ... and I only wrecked one car in the process!

Part of my final education in order to race with Travis is to get some real rally race experience. But the promoter of the US rally series, Rally America, has to be very cautious with new drivers such as me for insurance reasons.

The Subaru WRX STI that I drive is very powerful and very fast. A novice could do some serious damage to himself and/or spectators if things went wrong.

So, once I was entered into the first National event, one of eight, they had to take some precautions. I was given some stern warnings to drive safe and I had to drive a car that was 'detuned.' VTCar had to turn my turbo boost to practically zero---a loss of almost 100 HP.

Luckily, the first event I competed in was called Sno*Drift, and the course was 126 miles of roads covered in snow! So the lack of horsepower didn't matter that much because driving on snow requires more finesse than speed.

You snowboard a lot, and ride motocross a lot, too.How is rally similar to motocross?
Rally car racing is more different from motocross racing than alike, although the racing premise is the same---beat your competitors by going faster and making better decisions on the track.

One of the main differences is that motocross tracks have many, many lines through each corner, jumps and straight-aways. Car tracks and/or rally stages really have one main fast line---the fastest line through each corner via an apex. If you don't hit that line perfectly, you're slower.

One big advantage that I have coming from motocross is the mentality of racing on dirt. I've been racing/riding dirt-bikes for 20 years, and this experience has taught me a lot about dirt surfaces and race lines.

So I think I have a distinct advantage over someone that doesn't have that experience.

But that will only get me so far. I need to get more experience in the car to learn the fastest way to get in and out of the corners---much like a dirt bike. It just takes experience to know how long you can leave the gas on and how late you can brake to make the turn you want.

How is working with Subaru and Vermont SportsCar?
Both Subaru and Vermont SportsCar have been amazing. I have no previous rally experience to speak of, so they have had me on a very fast course tolearn the ropes.

It's great to work with such quality people and products. It's also really great working with Subaru because at DC we believe in working with companies that have experience and heritage in the sports that we get involved with---and there isn't a better brand in rally here in the US than Subaru!