Ken Block signs with Ford!

Down F0rce · 6 Jan 2010, 13:09 (Ref:2608917)

Block will race for Ford in the WRC and Rally America. He will drive a Focus in WRC and the Fiesta in Rally America.

http://www.rally-america.com/story.php?article=559

mountainstar · 6 Jan 2010, 16:32 (Ref:2608970)

Good news for Rally America! Should make for a more competitive series with Ford involved.

bodgit · 6 Jan 2010, 18:04 (Ref:2609006)

can't wait to see the cars livery

tbtstt · 6 Jan 2010, 19:51 (Ref:2609055)

So the rumours were true then (despite Blocks denial late last year). Great for the Rally America series to get the support of a second manufacturer, be interesting to see how the Fiesta squares up to the Impreza.

bodgit · 6 Jan 2010, 20:34 (Ref:2609086)

is it going to be a S2000 fiesta?

tbtstt · 6 Jan 2010, 21:12 (Ref:2609110)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bodgit

is it going to be a S2000 fiesta?

The Fiesta that was used for X-Games last year (which is a Rally America event) was a slightly detuned Division 1 Rallycross Fiesta.

I would assume its the same spec car that will be used in Rally America next year.

Down F0rce · 6 Jan 2010, 21:19 (Ref:2609116)

Still no word if the Monster World Rally Team is to be a two car effort. There was some rumours that Chris Atkinson would be a second driver... there is a great video of Ken and Chris and MK II Escort on YouTube which fuelled the rumours...

1975DCS · 6 Jan 2010, 21:52 (Ref:2609130)

Could this be the first succesfull USA driver in an Rallycross ERC round?

Andy Harrison · 7 Jan 2010, 10:40 (Ref:2609345)

Good news for WRC and I can't wait for this season!

Block seems like a cool guy and I think he is determined to make a series name for himself within the next few years!

Cool interview with Block on Rally America and the WRC:
http://grid1.tv/#browse/media_vault/drivers?id=2_276

V8thunderfan · 7 Jan 2010, 11:40 (Ref:2609384)

Awesome news, Ken has done a great deal for rally in the US. It will be great to see him take on the WRC. The livery will be cool!

Timomies · 7 Jan 2010, 14:52 (Ref:2609511)

They should get Travis Pastrana to WRC too.

V8thunderfan · 7 Jan 2010, 15:54 (Ref:2609538)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timomies

They should get Travis Pastrana to WRC too.

Travis has Red Bull connections maybe something will come of it, IF he wants to progress to the WRC that is.

nickyf1 · 7 Jan 2010, 17:15 (Ref:2609576)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbtstt

The Fiesta that was used for X-Games last year (which is a Rally America event) was a slightly detuned Division 1 Rallycross Fiesta.

I would assume its the same spec car that will be used in Rally America next year.

Detuned?? The Fiesta that turned up at the x-games had 800hp being out out from the 2ltr engine. That Fiesta thats used in the USA is pretty much the Pikes Peak car without the wings. The Fiesta was definetaly not used in the proper Rally America rallies, i'd expect to see the new S2000.

rich_cooper · 7 Jan 2010, 17:50 (Ref:2609596)

It wont be an S2000, The car for the USA WILL be a MSE Fiesta, same as they ran at x-games!

rx-guru · 7 Jan 2010, 19:17 (Ref:2609656)

Yep, Andréas Eriksson has left both his Pikes Peak Mk7 Fiestas in the USA to be used for x-games and later Rally America.

nickyf1 · 7 Jan 2010, 19:47 (Ref:2609668)

wow, 800hp, surely they will have to be detuned??!

mountainstar · 8 Jan 2010, 00:20 (Ref:2609803)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickyf1

Detuned?? The Fiesta that turned up at the x-games had 800hp being out out from the 2ltr engine. That Fiesta thats used in the USA is pretty much the Pikes Peak car without the wings. The Fiesta was definetaly not used in the proper Rally America rallies, i'd expect to see the new S2000.

From what I was told by someone that was there at the X games on the technical side of things those Fiestas were running around 600 hp at the X Games. I'm sure at Pikes Peak they were running full blast as the rules are fairly liberal there(of course by the time you get above 10,000 feet, you've got half the HP anyways).

I could be wrong, as I'm not a tech and rule book wizard, but I don't believe those Fiestas can pass Rally America tech in their 2009 form.

Why or who made the decision to allow those cars to compete I don't know, but it wasn't a fair fight with the other Open class cars at the X games.

mountainstar · 8 Jan 2010, 00:23 (Ref:2609804)

Quote:

Originally Posted by V8thunderfan

Travis has Red Bull connections maybe something will come of it, IF he wants to progress to the WRC that is.

Well he has already done the PWRC a few times here and there. I think that kind of opened his eyes a bit.

Thing with Ken Block is that he has been rather committed to the rally driving and his driving skills while Pastrana has his fingers in many pies. Unless Pastrana gives all that up then I don't see him doing much in the way of the WRC.

V8thunderfan · 8 Jan 2010, 08:31 (Ref:2609895)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainstar

Thing with Ken Block is that he has been rather committed to the rally driving and his driving skills while Pastrana has his fingers in many pies. Unless Pastrana gives all that up then I don't see him doing much in the way of the WRC.

Hit the nail on the head with that

tbtstt · 8 Jan 2010, 16:03 (Ref:2610053)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickyf1

Detuned?? The Fiesta that turned up at the x-games had 800hp being out out from the 2ltr engine. That Fiesta thats used in the USA is pretty much the Pikes Peak car without the wings. The Fiesta was definetaly not used in the proper Rally America rallies, i'd expect to see the new S2000.

The Fiestas that were used at X-Games were running nowhere near the 800BHP used at Pikes Peak. I'm not sure on the exact figure, but the Rally America cars run at approximately Group N spec, so they are making something in the region of 300 BHP.

However they are allowed to crank the power up for X-Games (so the cars can make the jump in the stadium) but no figure(s) were quoted with regards to how much additional power is allowed for X. I would expect, at most, the cars to be running no more than 400 BHP though. The changes made to the Fiesta between Pikes Peak and X-Games extended a lot further than simply removing the wings.

As I said, I would expect to see a detuned/restricted version of the Division 1 ERC car in next years Rally America series - especially as the cars are listed as being supplied by Olsberg MSE, so using the Div. 1 car as a base seems logical.

Back on topic I believe that Pastrana is a better (or at least more successful) driver, but I prefer Block as a personality and I wish him all the best for WRC. I think he will find it tough at the top, but I hope he surprises everyone!

EDIT: Sorry, just saw rich_cooper and RX-Guru's comments on the tail end of the previous page - sorry, didn't mean to repeat you guys!

nickyf1 · 8 Jan 2010, 17:31 (Ref:2610094)

No. It was reported that the cars were running around abouts the 600 - 800 hp range at the X Games. They were not detuned. Plus im pretty sure the Subaru's in Rally America run closer to 400hp

tbtstt · 8 Jan 2010, 20:00 (Ref:2610150)

Just had a look at the regulations on the Rally America site. I can't see any specific HP limitations but it does state that any open class car must run a 34mm turbo restrictor so, based on the equivalent BHP levels of Group A cars (which run a slightly smaller restrictor) a figure of 350 BHP seems about right. When Ken Blocks rally Impreza was featured on Top Gear they also quoted a figure of 350 BHP.

If I recall the Division 1 ERC cars use 40mm restrictors to limit power to around 550 BHP and, given that the Fiesta used at X-Games were Olsberg rallycross prepared cars, if such a car was paired with a 34mm turbo restrictor (in order to bring it to comply with Rally America rules) its power output would be significantly lowered, right?

I'm no trying to be argumentative but, even if they allowed 40mm restrictors for X-Games (and they stated in the TV coverage that the carswere allowed a power hike for X), I can't see how they would be developing any more than 600 BHP with such engine limitations in place. Furthermore it would be pretty unfair to allow the Fiestas to run at that sort of power output when the most the Impreza's could run would most likely be around 450 BHP.

tbtstt · 8 Jan 2010, 20:07 (Ref:2610153)

Sorry to double post but I just found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1nBre8hBK4

Tanner Foust is interviewed about his X-Games Fiesta; at around the 0:55 mark he talks about the car having a restrictor installed to bring it in line with Rally America regulations and the car being limited to around 425BHP/550LBS for X-Games.

Throughout the video you can also see Kenny Brack's Fiesta in the background!

Gedwardes518 · 8 Jan 2010, 22:20 (Ref:2610218)

If i remember correctly from watching the coverage on the night, the fiesta's also had quite a significant ballast added to them in comparison to the other cars, even so they could still out drag anyone else going down that back straight.

The Eye · 9 Jan 2010, 00:08 (Ref:2610266)

A bit off topic perhaps but I must say I am very impressed with what Andreas has accomplished in a few years. I saw his first RC race in that new and not at all tested Fiesta in Arvika 2005. A very entertaining!!! but not that successful first try at RC. Since then, Andreas and his team MSE have developed each year. Building ERC winning car’s, brought WRC stars to the ERC. And MSE (Not Ford long time Motorsport partner M-Sport) got the task of building the Pikes Peak and X-Games car’s.

Btw, do you know the birthplace of the 2009 X-Games winner Kenny Bräck?

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