Coming into round six of the Rally America 2013 championship with wins at their previous two events, Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino dug into the sandy stages of the Ojibwe Forest Rally in western Minnesota determined to continue their winning streak.
Drawing first on road during Thursday night’s seeding drawing, the pair immediately took advantage of the dry and dusty stage conditions by opening up as much of a gap as possible between themselves and the rest of the field during Friday’s day 1. Through a combination of outright speed and dust lingering in the air for the next cars on road, Block consistently added to his lead, stage after stage, eventually ending the day after three afternoon stages and three night stages with a lead of 1 minute and 2 seconds over second place.
“The conditions out here are definitely tough for everyone,” said Block. “We got lucky on the draw and I worked hard today to make sure that I maximized that luck by trying to put down my fastest pace possible. I had some good stage times today and even matched two of my daylight times during two of the night stages, so overall I’m pleased with how today went. Hopefully we can keep this up throughout tomorrow and keep our chances of winning the championship alive.”
To see if Block and Gelsomino can bring home their third consecutive Rally America win, be sure to follow along here, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
