Ken Block lost his life in a snowmobile accident
Published by The team in News the
03/01/2023 at 10:21
Ken Block died this morning in Utah, USA. The pilot suffered a fatal accident while riding a snowmobile and was unable to recover from his injuries.
Block, 55, was one of the great figures in motorsport thanks to his business vision and as the creator of one of the most viral shows in the motoring world with the launch of the first Gymkhana in 2006, as well as as a rally driver.
Ken Block: businessman, pilot and stuntman
Today is a sad world for engine fans. Tonight (late, in the US), the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office released a statement announcing the tragic news.
At approximately 2:00 p.m., the emergency center received a call alerting to a snowmobile accident in the Mill Hollow area. On their way to the emergency room, they found Ken Block unconscious after he lost control on a hill and the snowmobile fell on him. The medical team could only confirm his death.
The news was confirmed soon after by Hoonigan Racing , the team founded by Block himself, who leaves behind a wife (Lucy) and three children.
A visionary who made the engine a spectacle
We all know Ken Block's recent story, but the Californian pilot and stuntman changed his life dramatically when he founded the shoe brand DC Shoes in 1994 with Damon Way .
He's always been a fan of motorsports, but it wasn't until 2005 that he really started to take it seriously, when he entered the United States National Rally Championship for the first time in a Subaru WRX. STi prepared by Vermont SportsCar. He won Rookie of the Year.
In 2006 he secured a Subaru sponsorship and competed alongside friend and Freestyle Motocross rider Travis Pastrana. They participated in the first edition of the 2006 X-Games Rally , which would be something like the seed of RallyCross, where they would compete from 2010. They also raced in the World Rally Championship where their participation was more low-key .
From Subaru he moved on to Ford, with whom he had a long and successful relationship that left us with spectacular cars before signing with Audi in 2021 to focus on electric cars and launch the first Electrikhana mounted on the Hoonitron, an electric reinterpretation of the Audi. S1.
But if Block became a world-famous character for anything, it was for the 2008 premiere of the first of the Gymkhanas. This 'Gymkhana: Practice' in which with an imposing Impreza of 530 HP and a disused military base, the pilot demonstrated his skills by burning tires in a big way.
The format Block created was simple and impressive in equal measure: spectacular maneuvers, smoke and no music. Just the sound of the roaring engine and the screeching of tires. This first Gymkhana now has more than 16 million visits .
From the BlaBlaStore team, we send a big hug to his family, friends and colleagues. Rest in peace.