Daytona Beach, FL: Straight off a weekend of demos in South Africa, Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block headed into Daytona Beach, Florida, for Rounds Two and Three of the 2015 Global Rallycross Championship. While he placed 8th overall in the final on Saturday’s Round Two event—a feat accomplished on three wheels after a racing incident that sent him backwards into a tire wall—he bounced back with a vengeance during Sunday’s Round Three and put himself once again on the podium for the second time of the season, adding to the points he racked up with his win in Ft. Lauderdale with a second place finish during Sunday’s Round Three event.
On Saturday, Block qualified second overall, won both of his Heats and won his Semi-final during Saturday’s Round Two event. This led to him starting the Saturday Final sitting P2 on the start grid. Coming out of the first turn, he was able to make a move for first place, which lasted all-too-briefly, when fellow Ford driver, Patrick Sandell and Block came together down the straight, sending both into spins with Block ending his going backwards into a tire barrier. While Block’s car was damaged, he was able to press on and finish the Final—even despite losing his right rear tire and having to drive on three wheels—to rack up some points towards his championship chase.
Sunday, however, was a better day for Block. While he qualified 2nd fastest-overall, he was unable to participate in GRC’s new “knockout” qualifying session (that takes the six top qualifiers and pits them against each other in yet a further qualifying session) due to a mechanical issue. Despite the setback and a less than-ideal grid position, Block took second in his Heat and then proceeded to come away off a first-place finish in his Semi-final, securing P2 on the Finals grid for the second time in two days. For the Final, Block did what he had to do to fight for a podium position, finding himself in second place by the middle of the first lap and maintaining that to the end of the Final.
“This was a crazy race weekend for me,” said Block. “The heat out here in Daytona was intense, temps inside the car reached almost 140 degrees Fahrenheit, so that was definitely an extra challenge this weekend! Saturday was going really well up until 15 seconds into the final when Patrick [Sandell] and I had our contact. I was able to still drive pretty hard and cross the finish line to get some points, but I was definitely disappointed. Fortunately, Sunday went way better for me and I was able to avoid too much contact out there, find relatively clean air and bring home my second podium of the season with a second place finish.”
With his 8th place finish during Round Two and his 2nd place finish during Round Three, Block now sits 2nd overall in the Global Rallycross Championship points standings. Block’s next event is the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he’ll be doing demo runs in both his Ford Mustang Hoonicorn RTR from Gymkhana SEVEN, as well as the all-new Ford Focus RS, taking place June 26th, 27th and 28th.
