Death of Ken Block: what do we know about the pilot’s snowmobile accident?

KEN BLOCK. Rally driver and gymkhanas enthusiast Ken Block died on Monday January 2, 2023 in a snowmobile accident in Utah (United States). The circumstances of the accident have been revealed.

Extreme and motorsports mourn the death of Ken Block. At only 55 years old, the American pilot known for his races at full speed on circuits full of obstacles died in the afternoon of January 2, 2023 during a snowmobile accident in Utah in the United States. United. The man who has slid all his life on powder snow on a snowboard and then on asphalt in motocross and in a rally car was crushed by the motorized vehicle he was driving during a trip with friends. Local authorities confirmed Ken Block’s death in a statement seen by Pole position and specified the circumstances of the accident, but the autopsy must make it possible to know more precisely the causes of the pilot’s death.

Without giving further details, the company Hoonigan Industries founded by Ken Block in turn shared the news of the pilot’s death in a tragic accident. Behind him, the thrill-seeker leaves his wife Lucy and his three children, two girls and a boy. “It is with our deepest regrets that we can confirm that Ken Block passed away in a snowmobile accident today. Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. […] Please respect the family’s privacy at this time while they mourn,” reads the company’s statement. In addition to upsetting loved ones, Ken Block’s death is shaking everyone in the industry. cars, rallies and, more broadly, extreme sports. Several figures in the industry have paid tribute to the driver, who was noted more for his famous and inimitable gymkhanas than for his very few track records. “Ken was a visionary and a true legend who inspired so many of us. Rest in peace, Ken!” wrote 2019 world rally champion Ott Tänak on Twitter, a sign of Ken Block’s weight in motorsport.

The accident that killed Ken Block on January 2 is tragic, especially given the racing cars the driver has driven throughout his career. The lover of sliding and extreme driving was killed in a snowmobile accident during a motorized outing with friends. The gymkhana adept used to controlling his mount in all circumstances fell on a steep track and found himself crushed under his snowmobile. Local authorities in Wasatch County, Utah, where the accident took place, reported in the aforementioned statement: “Ken Block was driving down a steep hill in the Mill Hollow area outside of Woodland at approximately 2:00 p.m. when his snowmobile overturned, landing on top of him”. The county sheriff adds in the document that Ken Block was alone at the time of the accident and that the pilot quickly succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

At the end of December, Ken Block had shared photos of another snowmobile ride in the powder snow that covers the land of Utah at this time of year. The images show a device likely to be the snowmobile used in the accident among other equipment cited by the pilot: Ski-doo sleds, CanAm Mavericks, a Defender and the Kubota machines “to dig us up and maintain the property “.

Ken Block, gymkhana superstar

The death of Kenneth Paul Block, says Ken Block, is terrible news for rally fans. If the American was not subscribed to victories, he made an impression with his good performances on the circuit but above all with his gymkhana videos, a discipline in which he was one of the main figures. Excerpts of Ken Block’s exploits in races full of obstacles, perfectly mastered drifts aboard competition cars and spectacular tests of numerous vehicles have been viewed more than 600 million times on the platform Youtube. Moreover, there are countless car models that have passed through the hands of the seasoned driver, even if some have marked the minds of car enthusiasts: the 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 530 horsepower that the driver abused on an airfield, the Ford Focus and the Ford Fiesta that followed him and saw their body crumpled and lately the 100% electric Audi Hoonitron that Ken Block rode on the roads of Las Vegas in the last gymkhana session posted on his Youtube channel.

Ken Block has distinguished himself since 2008 in the gymkhana format. Building on his success, the pilot had also been trying out other derived disciplines for a few years: the terrakhana to ride on gravel and sand rather than on the comfortable asphalt and the climbkhana to venture on steep and mountainous roads. . The climbkhana allowed Ken Block to ride and climb Pikes Peak, a 4,000-meter-plus peak within the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, driving the famous 1,400 horsepower four-wheel-drive Mustang. After this feat in 2017, the rider competed in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb side race in May 2022.

Achievements, but a limited track record

First a fan of sliding sports with skateboarding and snowboarding, Ken Block began to frequent the circuits from 2005 at the advanced age – for a pilot – of 37 years old. But his dexterity and his control at the wheel allowed him to be present at many races aboard the Ford rally cars with which he was in contract for more than 15 years before swapping the American manufacturer for the German Audi in 2021.

Ken Block has taken part in the World Rally Championship twenty-two times and has been in the Top 10 drivers in the competition six times. At his best, the pilot climbed to 7th place at the world championships in Mexico in 2013, recalls The Team. His last participation in world competition dates back to 2018 with the Rally of Catalonia. Still, despite a large number of races to his credit, his record has never really taken off with few victories despite very respectable performances. A true jack-of-all-trades, Ken Block had also tried his hand at rallycross racing between 2014 and 2017 during three seasons, managing to get on the podium twice, but without being noticed during his races.

Ken Block, a pilot doubled as a businessman

Ken Block owes his popularity more – he is one of the few American drivers to be known in Europe and around the world – to his gymkhanas than to his performance in rallies. But there is one area where the man has been able to stand out, that of business. Because his image as an extreme sports pilot has allowed him to develop a brand and a company: Hoonigan Industries. The company sells clothing for the automobile or flocked with the brand. The company also founded the Hoonigan Racing Division in 2010 which is an auto racing team with which Ken Block raced during some competitions.

The pilot has participated in other entrepreneurial projects including the DC Shoes company of which he is one of the co-founders. The brand has become a benchmark in the sports ready-to-wear sector with clothing and footwear for skateboarding, snowboarding and extreme sports. Created in 1994, the Ken Block brand was purchased by Quiksilver in 2004.