Ken Block has suffered plenty of “That’s Rally” moments so far this 2022 season, with them all having an effect on his 2022 season and his chances at his first ARA title.
Caution: Deer
The Rally In The 100 Acre Wood would be the first event of the 2022 ARA national season Block would attend after skipping Sno*Drift. Block showed up to the 100 Acre Wood in a surprise car that not even the organizers knew what it was. That surprise car ended up being a 2019 Hyundai i20 WRC. The car would be brought down to ARA regulations, much like Barry McKenna’s 2021 Ford Fiesta WRC he brought a year prior. Block came into the rally looking to expand his wins record at the event from seven to eight. Block had the rally win in the palm of his hand, leading Brandon Semenuk by 45 seconds heading into the final stage. Unfortunately for Block, a deer would run out in front of his Hyundai, damaging the car and taking away his win as a result.
Ken Block in a Tree
Block’s misfortune at the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood would seem to continue at the Olympus Forest Rally. Block came into the event looking to make up lost ground after losing out on points at the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood. Unfortunately for Block, his rally and any chance of taking points at Olympus would end just three stages into the rally. It would end as a result of Block going off the road and hitting a tree with a 12G impact, destroying his car. Luckily both Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino would make it out ok with no injuries.
A Dusty New England
Ken Block came into the New England Forest Rally looking for his fourth win of the year and the potential to take first in the championship. Block doesn’t have the greatest track record with NEFR, and this year was no different. On day one, Block wouldn’t have any verbal communication with his Co-Driver, Alex Gelsomino, due to an issue with Gelsomino‘s helmet. Due to this, the team had to resort to hand signals, not a great situation. Due to this, Block lost nearly 30 seconds to Semenuk. Day two would see Block regain the lead just for it all to be taken away on the final stage. Block entered the final stage with a lead of 2.9 seconds over Semenuk.
Semenuk would start with a clean dust free road. Block would go second. Block would run into a wall of dust, thus not being able to take the stage as he normally would. Due to this, Block would lose his entire lead and finish the rally 0.9 seconds behind Semenuk. Block was not happy with this result as he had requested an extra “dust-minute” before starting the stage, but his request was denied. This ultimately lead to Block being a bitter second-place guy, and neither Block nor Gelsomino was impressed with the result.
My name is Joe Moore. I am a writer for Belly Up Hockey, Belly Up Racing, and Belly Up Sports. You can find me on Twitter.
