Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Ken Block arrived to Florida for the first round of the 2015 Global Rallycross Championship season with one mission: starting the year with a solid race that would help lay the foundation for him to try and win the championship. After two days of very fast driving in the heat of Florida, he did more than just that and kicked off his 2015 season with a big win.
“I couldn’t be happier with my result this weekend,” said Block. “We put in a lot of hard work as a team in the pre-season and that paid off huge for us today. This style of track didn’t really play into my strengths as a driver, but I was able to work with my team to get the car to the right place and overcome what I felt was a deficit on my end. I pulled something off here that I wasn’t fully sure I’d be able to, so I’m absolutely stoked with the result and to be leaving here leading the series in the points standing.”
Block started the event well, being 2nd fastest overall in practice on Saturday morning and getting through the first Heat of the event Saturday afternoon. Block then hit the circuit again Sunday morning for his second Heat of the event where he placed 2nd, which set him up for position two on the front row of his Semi-Final. In the Semi-Final, Block outdrove the competition with some deft maneuvering and tight lines, winning the Semi and securing Pole Position for the starting grid of the afternoon’s Final.
In the Final, Block had a quick launch and immediately targeted the Joker Lap on his first pass. Making it through the Joker safely, Block had open air ahead of him and began to work on breaking away from the remainder of the pack. During the 10 lap final, Block continued to put speed between himself and the rest of the field, hammering it completely down on his fourth lap, where he set the fastest lap time of the event with a 29.9 second pass. Block stormed on to win the Final, starting the first round of the 2015 Global Rallycross Championship in the best way possible.
Block’s next competitive event will be the weekend of June 6th in Austin, Texas, at Summer X Games.
