Ken Block's Gymkhana

Kimi and Lewis, eat your hearts out.

Edited by OfficeLinebacker, 18 August 2011 - 12:51.
Changed title to better reflect thread topic

How many WRC races is Ken taking part in this year? Haven't seen him lately...

How many WRC races is Ken taking part in this year? Haven't seen him lately...

Last time I checked he was competing with Kimi for DNFs.

ken without 100s of hours practice

ken without 100s of hours practice

Sums it up really.

As for his Gymkhana, it's an enjoyable piece of advertising video and that's all. I liked previous ones more. This one is a bit over the top with all these flames and whatnot.

Eh. Mods changed the title. The original thread title is not in the text of the post.

Look at the words at the bottom of the computer in the early shot. I think that's the name of the car.

Last time I checked he was competing with Kimi for DNFs.

Räikkönen doesn't have a single DNF this season. As a matter of fact, he's one of the few drivers who has scored points in every single rally he's taking part this season.

@DrF: Block is taking part in Rallye Deutschland this weekend. He was 20th today morning in shakedown.

Watched this in HD through my TV, the added detail makes those slo-mos even better.

Edited by peacockantony, 18 August 2011 - 13:14.

Reminds me of my Universal Studio tour, just not as slow. If you haven't been there, watch this and your done, save a few bucks.............

As for his Gymkhana, it's an enjoyable piece of advertising video and that's all. I liked previous ones more. This one is a bit over the top with all these flames and whatnot.

That's how I look at it too, it's a bit too gimmicky for me. Kudos though that Block is mixing it up with the guys in WRC.

ken without 100s of hours practice

Clown meets real world.

That's how I look at it too, it's a bit too gimmicky for me. Kudos though that Block is mixing it up with the guys in WRC.

It's a send-up. It's self parody.

I only thought of it because he calls his car "Hoonigan" and it reminded me of Lewis' adventures in Oz. He should send the video to Hamilton and say "Son, THIS is how you hoon."

how soon before he maims his co-driver?


tell him to stick to heavily edited videos taken at repetitive purpose built closed courses where the worst he can do is mechanical destruction

Too over the top. I liked the first two better.

I think people have to remember he does all this for fun essentially. He uses his rallying and Gymkhana vids to promote his DC Shoes company, and does pretty well at it for a guy who came late to motorsport. The fact he's world famous for doing all these stunts and videos (and doing them well!) is frankly something WRC and Rally drivers should look at, and think why they're not in the same league as this guy in terms of fame and 'selling' rallying..

This latest vid isn't quite my favourite (that's the Montlhery one), but it has some awesome camera angles (those 3d shots are AMAZING!!) and some awesome driving as always.

The fact he's world famous for doing all these stunts and videos (and doing them well!) is frankly something WRC and Rally drivers should look at, and think why they're not in the same league as this guy in terms of fame and 'selling' rallying..

When I saw this Tuesday evening it had had 300 views, 3 days later and its had 3,600,000 ! He must be doing something right !

I think people have to remember he does all this for fun essentially. He uses his rallying and Gymkhana vids to promote his DC Shoes company, and does pretty well at it for a guy who came late to motorsport. The fact he's world famous for doing all these stunts and videos (and doing them well!) is frankly something WRC and Rally drivers should look at, and think why they're not in the same league as this guy in terms of fame and 'selling' rallying..

This latest vid isn't quite my favourite (that's the Montlhery one), but it has some awesome camera angles (those 3d shots are AMAZING!!) and some awesome driving as always.

I pretty much agree with what you said, except for the bolded part. He does it for money, fun is only a by-product. Nothing wrong with making money of course.

how soon before he maims his co-driver?


tell him to stick to heavily edited videos taken at repetitive purpose built closed courses where the worst he can do is mechanical destruction

That seems to be some American rally series as well (probably Rally America). It says that he surrendered the lead to Travis Pastrana.

Remember when Colin McRae drove in X-Games rallycross, and was SECONDS ahead of the field (which included Pastrana) before flipping his car? He was visibly better and faster. The other drivers weren't even in the same league.

That seems to be some American rally series as well (probably Rally America). It says that he surrendered the lead to Travis Pastrana.

Remember when Colin McRae drove in X-Games rallycross, and was SECONDS ahead of the field (which included Pastrana) before flipping his car? He was visibly better and faster. The other drivers weren't even in the same league.

Yeah, he rolled his car and still almost won - it was on wtf1.co.uk recently

You know there's something hugely wrong with your championship when Block and Pastrana are the two top drivers.

Its like F1 with Piquet JR and Badoer as the figureheads.

Some insane skill right there. Preferred his other ones though.

You know there's something hugely wrong with your championship when Block and Pastrana are the two top drivers.

Its like F1 with Piquet JR and Badoer as the figureheads.

Not really, because it's not a transferrable skill. Rallycross is a world of it's own. And it's pretty damn cool the way they do it Stateside.

What I want to know is if I can fit that eco-boost engine in my s-max . The only eco-boosts we get here are puny ones, this one sounds like it has a bit more power.

My 4, and 2.5 year old totally dig these videos (as do I), lots of fun eye-candy. Good for him he does this.

That seems to be some American rally series as well (probably Rally America). It says that he surrendered the lead to Travis Pastrana.

Remember when Colin McRae drove in X-Games rallycross, and was SECONDS ahead of the field (which included Pastrana) before flipping his car? He was visibly better and faster. The other drivers weren't even in the same league.

You know all these guys who compete in the X Games etc. are not racing drivers from the start of their careers. They're MotoX stars, they're skateboarders, BMXers who then started rallying and doing rallycross, so of course they're going to be behind the established Rally talent. Raikkonen is showing how grounded you have to be in rallying to win, no matter how good a driver you are, and also how difficult it is to catch up.

You have to give the likes of Pastrana, Mirra, Block and co. credit for putting so much passion and effort into rallying in the first place, and they're the reason it's become more popular in the States in recent years. They have works teams behind them in the Rally America championship (Subaru, Ford), and they wouldn't spend money on them doing these campaigns if they didn't have some modicum of talent, that could be used for racing success and also promotion of their sponsors and rallying as a whole.

Check the success of the DiRT rallying video game series (that heavily features these guys)... it's getting kids back into rallying in a way that Loeb, Ogier etc. are nowhere near. The whole reason Colin went to the USA was that he had befriended these guys and was mentoring them in the classic rallying style.

Some insane skill right there. Preferred his other ones though.

This seemed more of a 'short film' than the others, which is cool, but seemed like less technical skill on show in it (not to say the level of skill was lower!).

Not really, because it's not a transferrable skill. Rallycross is a world of it's own. And it's pretty damn cool the way they do it Stateside.

I think I'd rather see Block compete and help grow the new Global Rallycross Championship (not really Global, but ah well), than try to overextend himself in WRC, or a least dovetail his WRC commitments into a few key events (possibly help get a USA round). He would then be racing with his peers Pastrana, Mirra, Millen etc. in something that's exciting and has potential to get bigger and better (Marcus Gronholm seemed to like it)...

People forget that Block is 43 years old now, and that his first time he was in anything rally car related was when he was 37. The fact that he is able to do this is pretty impressive in that regard. When he started WRC, I knew he wasn't going to do well because it wasn't close anything he used to and unlike Kimi (who was like 29), Block was already 39 at his first WRC stage.

37 isn't exactly retirement age.

But it's still pretty late to the party. Plenty of drivers contemplate retirement in their early 40s.

Edited by Dilla, 19 August 2011 - 20:12.

Because of burn out, not because driving technique is like fertility levels.

I know that, but I don't think Block was a "white-collar job" kind of guy prior to 2005, though. . .

Edit: At least not full-time. Whatever, I still think it's impressive.

Edited by Dilla, 19 August 2011 - 20:31.

People forget that Block is 43 years old now, and that his first time he was in anything rally car related was when he was 37. The fact that he is able to do this is pretty impressive in that regard. When he started WRC, I knew he wasn't going to do well because it wasn't close anything he used to and unlike Kimi (who was like 29), Block was already 39 at his first WRC stage.

Some of the so called drivers of old continued to race until very late. It was money and the contraction of teams that put them out.

Vatannen was still racing after his WRC retirement before he went to politics and tried to topple Todt who, incidently also has a rally background.

My original reason for mentioning age wasn't about burnout.

I was agreeing with Danardi.

Edited by Dilla, 19 August 2011 - 20:48.

I think people have to remember he does all this for fun essentially. He uses his rallying and Gymkhana vids to promote his DC Shoes company, and does pretty well at it for a guy who came late to motorsport. The fact he's world famous for doing all these stunts and videos (and doing them well!) is frankly something WRC and Rally drivers should look at, and think why they're not in the same league as this guy in terms of fame and 'selling' rallying..

This latest vid isn't quite my favourite (that's the Montlhery one), but it has some awesome camera angles (those 3d shots are AMAZING!!) and some awesome driving as always.

colin mcrae is worth 100 ken blocks

didnt block to the uk topgear show? i seem to remember 1 million skidmarks all over the place like they had to do million cuts to actually get a video that looked impressive

Edited by arknor, 19 August 2011 - 21:07.

colin mcrae is worth 100 ken blocks

didnt block to the uk topgear show? i seem to remember 1 million skidmarks all over the place like they had to do million cuts to actually get a video that looked impressive

Colin McRae IS worth 100 Ken Block's... but that's not my point. I'm saying for his route into motorsport he's actually done more for the sport than pretty much all the WRC field put together!

You know all these guys who compete in the X Games etc. are not racing drivers from the start of their careers. They're MotoX stars, they're skateboarders, BMXers who then started rallying and doing rallycross, so of course they're going to be behind the established Rally talent. Raikkonen is showing how grounded you have to be in rallying to win, no matter how good a driver you are, and also how difficult it is to catch up.

You have to give the likes of Pastrana, Mirra, Block and co. credit for putting so much passion and effort into rallying in the first place, and they're the reason it's become more popular in the States in recent years. They have works teams behind them in the Rally America championship (Subaru, Ford), and they wouldn't spend money on them doing these campaigns if they didn't have some modicum of talent, that could be used for racing success and also promotion of their sponsors and rallying as a whole.

Check the success of the DiRT rallying video game series (that heavily features these guys)... it's getting kids back into rallying in a way that Loeb, Ogier etc. are nowhere near. The whole reason Colin went to the USA was that he had befriended these guys and was mentoring them in the classic rallying style.

You're right, I totally get that. I'm just saying that from what I saw, homegrown American drivers aren't quite at the top level at the moment. They do fine in their own country but can't quite mix it internationally. And I wonder if a driver from a motorsports background would be able to outshine them if given similar resources and backing. Pastrana and Mirra were popular before they ever set foot in rally cars, and that was of huge benefit to them.

You're right, I totally get that. I'm just saying that from what I saw, homegrown American drivers aren't quite at the top level at the moment. They do fine in their own country but can't quite mix it internationally. And I wonder if a driver from a motorsports background would be able to outshine them if given similar resources and backing. Pastrana and Mirra were popular before they ever set foot in rally cars, and that was of huge benefit to them.

That's true, but part of that is that they weren't professional drivers from the start of their 'sports' careers. But they can lay the foundations for young US drivers to come through and become better than them. I also think a US WRC round would be good for that as well.

Colin McRae IS worth 100 Ken Block's... but that's not my point. I'm saying for his route into motorsport he's actually done more for the sport than pretty much all the WRC field put together!

whats he actually done for the sport?

whats he actually done for the sport?

Well considering the WRC is now pretty much a minority sport compared to the last 25 years of it's history, Ken Block is the only person putting rallying and that style of driving into mainstream media sources. Only motorsport fans would think to look up rallying videos on youtube, but EVERYONE watches the Ken Block Gymkhana vids, and then their interest might be piqued enough to go and find out what rallying is all about.

It's showing in the resurgence in popularity of the Colin McRae Rally game series, now rebranded as DiRT. In the last 3 DiRT games, the 'baton' had been handed from the late McRae onto his American friends Pastrana, Block etc. and they have become the face of the game and therefore rallying to many young people. Their cars are liveried by many of the youth-oriented energy drink brands (something Red Bull tried with Kimi Raikkonen) and they are seen as all-action heroes by their fans.

If the WRC was better run and better covered on TV and the Internet (crucially) then the kids who love Block's skills might see that he is getting owned by the likes of Loeb, Ogier, Hirvonen, Latvala etc etc and realise that there's a whole world of excellent rally drivers out there. But Block is positioning himself as the main guy, despite his non-leading status talent-wise... and that says a lot about how rallying, which can be an amazing spectacle of driving talent in cars that can be identified as at least related to your average car on the street, doesn't promote itself nearly as much or as well as it could.

robby gordon is pretty decent off road

robby gordon is pretty decent off road

That's true, his Hummer Dakar cars are pretty awesome looking as well!

That's true, his Hummer Dakar cars are pretty awesome looking as well!

until he crashes out

until he crashes out

Sounds like Block as well

Sounds like Block as well

Sort of. Block crashes out because of lack of experience. Robby crashes out because he's a hothead with no patience. So much talented wasted.

whats he actually done for the sport?

Ask any kid of the street who Block is and chances are they'll have played a video with him in it or seen his online videos, or even sen him on Top Gear, ask them who Loeb is and they wont have a clue.

McRae knew what he was doing when he started getting involved with things like the X-Games. If you want to make an impact with any audience you have to start when they are young.

Loeb is an empty shell of a man for the WRC marketing.

bit of hate on here for ken block. big ups from me for at least giving wrc a shot. Is that worth so much negativity? especially when he seems like a pretty decent guy.

i dont think RG has crashed out of the dakar, but i could be wrong. last year a wheel bearing failed before a stage and his team mate decided not to stop to help him . and his first attempt a holed radiator put him out. that team mate wasnt even the first 2wheel drive car home either, in a podium potential car...

RG crashed out of other things ofcourse

whats he actually done for the sport?

You seriously must be kidding, absolutely everyone I know has heard of Ken Block purely through these videos. the x games generation have actually embraced rallying to a point where i cannot understand why there isn't a wrc round in california covered live on espn. There is a huge open door there that people are refusing to walk through!

i dont think RG has crashed out of the dakar, but i could be wrong. last year a wheel bearing failed before a stage and his team mate decided not to stop to help him . and his first attempt a holed radiator put him out. that team mate wasnt even the first 2wheel drive car home either, in a podium potential car...

RG crashed out of other things ofcourse

well, IIRC he crashed out this year, destroying suspension during the stage.