Ken Block will be racing in a WRC car for his chase of the 2022 ARA Championship title, Lia Block will be racing in her first full rally championship on a driver’s permit, and Lucy Block continues her quest of becoming “Most Badass Mom in Rally”

PARK CITY, Utah, March 18, 2022 Ken Block and Hoonigan Racing Division are proudly announcing the most “Blocks” in a rally championship, ever – running three drivers across two classes for the 2022 American Rally Association Championship (ARA). The 2022 driver’s lineup stacks up with Ken Block in a 2019 Hyundai i20 WRC car, his wife Lucy Block’s AWD rally debut in a new M-Sport built Fiesta Rally3, and their fifteen-year-old daughter, Lia Block, in a M-Sport built Fiesta R2T, each with their own bespoke race liveries. Lia is also racing with only a driver's permit - therefore only able to drive with another adult in the car! This is the first season that three members of the Block family will compete alongside each other in the same championship.

Ken Block

Hoonigan Racing’s ARA campaign kicks off on March 18-19, 2022 at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Salem, Mo. The rally is Ken’s favorite on the calendar, having won the rally seven times out of 10 starts (with co-driver Alex Gelsomino) and is looking to add an eighth victory in 2022. Meanwhile, Lucy will be stepping up to 4WD Open Class in her new Fiesta Rally3, competing in the same class as Ken for the first time ever. Although this is Lia’s first time participating in 100 Acre Wood, she is no stranger to the sport after making her national level rally racing debut at the Oregon Trail Rally in 2021, where she showed great promise in her first rally (3rd overall in her class on her first ever rally stage!)

Ken, however, will face the unique challenge of getting to grips with the 2019 Hyundai i20 WRC car - logging his first miles in this car for the first time ever here at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. While the car has great performance potential, the modern WRC aero package and 1.6l engine requires a different driving style from the cars that Block has most recently competed in. In addition, the car has a handful of changes to comply with 2022 ARA O4WD class rules: a reduction in restrictor size (which creates a reduction in power) and the team had to add ballast to the race car to meet minimum weight requirements.

“This might be my favorite season of rally in the U.S. ever. Great competition and I’m driving a modern-era WRC car all year!! This is epic! And, my wife is stepping up to open class in an AWD car, AND my daughter Lia is competing in a proper FWD turbo car - all as one team. All three of us have been preparing and building up to this kind of family setup, so it’s really rad to be here. And we’re kicking it off in my favorite rally of the year, The Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. It’s going to be a FUN year.”

Lia Block, at the age of 15, will be entering a Fiesta R2T in the open two-wheel drive class in only the second rally of her career - with Matt James as her co-driver. Her training program leading up to competing in stage rally has ranged from wheel-to-wheel UTV racing, kart racing, instruction at the Dirtfish & Team O’Neil rally schools, a podium at a Nitro Rallycross Championship race behind the wheel of a Sierra 700RX, and a full series of races behind the wheel of her dad’s 1,400 horsepower AWD Mustang (AKA the Hoonicorn) in Hoonigan’s video series Hoonicorn vs. the World.

Lia Block

Lia Block Fiesta R2T

Lia is also debuting an all-new livery, designed by renowned artist Death Spray Custom. The car’s graphics are inspired from the artist’s early memories of attending rally events in the U.K., where cars would hang it out on corners and catch the course’s ribbon tape, leaving it stuck on the car for the remainder of the stage.

“It’s cool to be competing in a rally with my mom and dad… but it’s going to be even better when I can beat ‘em! That’s my biggest motivator right now… haha. It’s really cool to be competing in the rally series I grew up around, as it was always a dream for me to be a part of it. Here I am with a really rad looking car, and the support of Hoonigan Racing Division. Big thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point!”

Lucy Block rounds out the team with a big upgrade to an AWD car, stepping up from the 2wd Ford Fiesta R2T that she has piloted in the last few rallies. Though the new Fiesta Rally3 lacks the widebody, aero, and suspension travel of the higher-spec WRC or R5 spec race cars, it is Lucy’s perfect stepping stone to enter the open four wheel drive class. Although the open four wheel class will be new to her, Lucy and her co-driver Michelle Miller are prepared to take on the challenge.

Lucy Block

“I am definitely not a “soccer mom”. Well, maybe a “snowboard mom”. But there’s gotta be a term for “rally racing mom”, right?? I love to race every chance I get - I mean, who doesn’t love to slide a car sideways through the forest at 90mph??” said Lucy. “This year, our very talented oldest spawn Lia is driving the Fiesta that I raced in for the past couple of years, so she is getting a very good “hand-me-down” to start her rally racing career in. But, I’m really excited to do my first race in an AWD turbo car here at 100 Acre Wood and my first full season ever!”

The 2022 ARA Championship is a nine-round series that will run through October 2022. Along with other top competitors, the Block family did not participate in the first race of the season at Sno*Drift Rally in February. However, this does not affect the chase for championship titles due to the national rule of allowing drivers two event drops.

2022 ARA National Rally Championship presented by DirtFish schedule:  

Sno*Drift Rally(National/Central)
February 18-19, 2022
Atlanta, Mich.

Rally in the 100 Acre Wood (National/Central)
March 18-19, 2022
Salem/Potosi, Mo.

DirtFish Olympus Rally (National/West)
April 23-24, 2022
Shelton, Wash.

Oregon Trail Rally (National/West)
May 20-22, 2022
Portland, Ore. Goldendale, Wash. Dufur, Ore.

Southern Ohio Forest Rally (National/East)
June 9-11, 2022
Chillicothe, Ohio

New England Forest Rally (National/East)
July 15-16, 2022
Bethel, Me. Errol, N.H.

Ojibwe Forests Rally (National/Central)
August 19-20, 2022
Detroit Lakes, Minn.

Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally
(National/East)
September 16-17, 2022
Wellsboro, Penn. Germania, Penn.

Lake Superior Performance Rally (National/Central)
October 14-15, 2022
Marquette, Mich.

About Hoonigan

Hoonigan is much more than a brand. It’s an automotive subculture, fueled on the shared passion of going fast and breaking things... then rebuilding them better than before. The company’s signature brand of vehicular savagery is on full display across their network of YouTube channels, serving daily content to a subscription base numbering in the millions. In addition to daily videos and social media content, Hoonigan has long been the production and marketing outfit behind Ken Block’s award winning series of viral videos such as Gymkhana, Climbkhana, and Terrakhana. At the heart of it all, however, is a wide ranging apparel collection that (along with an authentically automotive obsessed cast of characters) represents the brand’s core ethos: Having fun with cars.

About Ken Block

Ken Block ’s rally career began in 2005. His skill and car control became quickly apparent and Block aptly nabbed Rookie of the Year that season in the Rally America Championship. Since then, Block has also won 25+ national level rallies around the globe, scored points in the WRC, and accumulated five X Games medals... including winning silver on three wheels at X Games in LA in 2012 (behind 9 time WRC champ Sebastien Loeb). In addition to his performance in the car, Block has been a driving force in shedding light on the sport of rally within the United States. His keen branding and marketing acumen, combined with his talents and skills behind the wheel, has also allowed Block to achieve global fame as a rally driver through his wildly successful Gymkhana series of videos. A franchise which has garnered over 600 million views on Youtube alone Adding Climbkhana and Terrakhana to the franchises of videos in recent years, Block’s media properties continue to bring in new fans.

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