Ken Block, the rally racer most well-known for co-founding Hoonigan Industries and starring within the wildly fashionable Gymkhana sequence of stunt driving movies, was killed in a snowmobile crash on Monday, January 2nd, in response to a press release posted to Instagram. He was 55 years previous.
Block’s profession reached far past the rally and racing world — alongside Damon Way, Block co-founded the attire firm DC Shoes in 1994. He was a aggressive skateboarder, motocrosser, and snowboarder. But to automobile fanatics, Block is finest recognized for rallying and as a founding father of Hoonigan Industries.
Block’s racing profession started in Rally America. In 2005, he entered the nationwide rally racing scene as a member of the Vermont SportsCar staff, and nabbed the title of Rookie of the Year. The following 12 months, Block entered the primary X Games rally driving occasion, and in 2007 he started competing within the World Rally Championship. In 2010, Block based the Monster World Rally Team, turning into the primary American driver to compete in WRC rally racing. In 2012, he modified the identify of the staff to Hoonigan Racing Division, competing within the Global Rallycross Championship, and later, FIA World Rallycross.
Away from the world of rally racing, Block was finest often known as a co-founder of Hoonigan Industries, a media manufacturing and attire firm targeted on youthful automobile fanatics. Hoonigan quickly turned well-known by way of Block’s Gymkhana video sequence. The first video, revealed in 2008, appears nearly tame in contrast with what got here after: An more and more excessive sequence of movies showcasing Block (and later, a complete cavalcade of stunt drivers) drifting, leaping, and sliding round in a masterclass of automobile management and braveness. Early movies showcased Block’s rally and rallycross vehicles, however more moderen movies featured custom-built Hoonigan machines constructed solely for Gymkhana. The most up-to-date installment, Gymkhana 11, featured Block ripping round Las Vegas in an electrical Audi rally automobile.
Through his competitors in WRC and rallycross, Block turned the face of rally racing in America, taking the game from an esoteric area of interest to mainstream renown amongst automobile fanatics. And Hoonigan rose to a dominant place within the automotive world, chatting with a youthful technology of automobile fanatics and making a rowdy, DIY picture that resonated with gearheads across the globe.
Block is survived by his spouse, Lucy, and three youngsters; his daughter, Lia, has lately been concerned with Hoonigan video sequence of her personal, and Lucy and Lia have each competed alongside Ken within the American Rally Association championship. Jalopnik has reached out to a household consultant for remark; we’ll replace this text with any info we obtain.
Source: jalopnik.com