Kicking off the final Rally America round of the 2013 season, the Lake Superior Performance Rally, Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino showed up to upper Michigan with their eyes on one prize: winning the rally in order to win the 2013 championship.
LSPR is a must-win event for Block and Gelsomino, who clawed their way back from a rough start at the beginning of the season to force a scenario where the only way they can win the championship is to dominate the final rally of the year.
After successful testing earlier in the week, the duo started Friday’s Day 1 stages feeling good and running fast. However, conditions were treacherous due to cold temperatures and consistent rain. Through the first six stages of the day, Block and Gelsomino won five of six stages and headed into the remaining three night stages with an 8.6 second lead over their competition for the 2013 championship, David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew. Coming in for the end of the night however, the tally was Block having won six stages to Higgins’ three. However, Block found himself sitting 13 seconds out of first place with Day 2 ahead of him on Saturday.
“This rally has been tough so far,” said Block. “It’s clear that both myself and David [Higgins] are driving as hard as we possibly can. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for him, I ran into some heavy fog on the night stages today, which caused me to lose some confidence and give up some time. However, I’m confident that we’ll be able to make that up and then some tomorrow during Day 2.”
To see if the HRD pair can make up lost time and build a lead to win the rally and thusly win the championship, be sure to follow along here, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
