Ken Block returned to WorldRX action for his second outing this season, entering into the French round of the 2014 calendar in Loheác, France.
Despite having never raced in Loheác previously, Block ended up being the quickest driver (of 37 supercar entries) during the open practice session on the start of Saturday. Building upon that speed, Block also won his first heat and his second heat. However, Block missed the joker lap during his first heat and was awarded a 30 second penalty. The reason that Block missed the joker lap was that unfortunately, he was accustomed to the rallycross setup in Global Rallycross (the series where he’s competing in the full championship). In GRC, the flagger waves a white flag to indicate the final lap of a race, letting drivers know that if they haven’t taken the joker, they’ll need to do so on that last lap. In Loheác, there isn’t a final lap flag and instead just a small sign hung on the inside of the final corner. Due to this discrepancy in setup, Block thought he had another lap to take the joker. Even with that setback however, Block’s second heat win allowed him to finish 13th overall leading into Sunday. That positioning puts him right on the bubble of breaking into the top 12 and thus into the semi-finals.
Block will continue today in heats 3 and 4 as he attempts to move from 13th overall into the top 12. To see if he can do it, follow along at the WorldRX livestream: http://www.rallycrossrx.com/livestream