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Ken Block goes to WRC!

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January 8, 201016 yr

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/2010-...htm?csp=usat.me

As a teenager, Ken Block says he briefly was jailed for jumping a compact car on a bridge in Yosemite National Park.

The stunt wasn't youthful indiscretion as much as adolescent yearning.

"Since I was a little kid watching motor sports on TV, the rally racing of cars sliding on dirt and jumping was always more exciting to me than most American motorsports on TV," Block says. "Rally was what I gravitated toward, and as I got older, I wanted to mimic that driving style."

The Long Beach native will flaunt his abilities on the sport's biggest stage this season in joining the World Rally Championship series. With backing from Ford, Block hopes to become the first American to compete full time in the WRC, which is the rally equivalent to NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

The jump will complete a fast ride for Block, who has been racing Rally America only since 2005. Block learned of the series from X Games competitor Travis Pastrana.

"I never knew rally existed in America," says Block, a co-founder of DC Shoes who has competed in snowboarding, skateboarding and motocross and has become an Internet sensation with millions of YouTube views for his Gymkhana videos. "Travis started racing Rally America in 2004, and it woke me up. I went through the schooling and was quick enough and had some natural talent."

In his first national event in Michigan, Block finished seventh and was named Rally America rookie of the year for 2005. He has won seven events in the series, whose nine-race schedule features courses of rugged terrain from Washington to Maine.

WRC is a 13-race worldwide series with events in Sweden, Jordan, Turkey, New Zealand, Portugal and Finland. Block plans to make his debut at the March 7 event in Mexico.

He will face a star-studded lineup that includes Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, who has captured a record six consecutive championships with the Citroen team.

"This is the toughest rally championship in the world," Block says. "It's a big leap, and 2010 is a development year. I'd be in fantasyland to think there'd be a chance of rushing onto any podiums."

Block, who will be racing a Focus in WRC while switching to a Fiesta in Rally America, is hoping to be "near or on the podium" by the end of 2011 and believes his success could raise the sport's profile.

"Rally just hasn't been as popular in the States because it's been deemed more a European-type sport," Block says. "We haven't had many U.S. drivers that have gotten to that level. There have been a few people that have done one-off events. No one has done multiple events. It's a huge honor to go try to do that.

"There's a lot of pride, and to do it in an American brand, I'm really stoked to have this opportunity."