Ken Block to Race WRC?

This is great news. I hope he does well because American drivers seem sparse in international motorsports right now.

Regarding Nobama's bullshit CAFE laws, didn't Detroit already announce they could meet them with little work?

EPA only runs AC when they test, so by driving as many accessories electrically you skirt through because AC is the only electrical load outside of components critical to the operation of the car.

I absolutely love WRC !!!
But Ken Block is an absolute-idiot ! Doing doughnuts in a parking lot and flying at 120 mph within inches away from trees are two different things.
There are many ways to increase WRC exposure in the US; and Ken Block is not the answer.
He should stick to selling shoes.

Idiot? He flies past trees at 120 mph all the time and nobody sees it. So he takes a car out to some abandoned asphalt, hires a camera crew, and makes something that millions of people will see. Now the sponsors who pay for him to rally are actually getting something for their money. It was a genius move and it has obviously worked very well.

Racing is 20% driving and 90% marketing and hussle (yea, 110%). Sad, but true.

I do suspect he'll get his ass handed to him in the WRC, but don't call him an idiot.

I'm in agreement with Dave C. here. Idiots don't make millions of dollars and get there name and talent in front of millions of people. Ken would be a fantastic addition to the WRC. I don't see a whole lot of other American drivers stepping up to that platform. When it comes to "time attack" or "drifting" I'm sure there's a hell of a lot of drivers that are more than qualified but WRC is just a different kind of racing. And yes.... "racing" is mostly marketing and hussle.

Sorry Dave, I shouldn't have call him an idiot.....he's actually a very smart business man. He's clearly into this for the $$$ and the fame, not for the passion.
You don't see Sebastien Loeb & co. jumping 150 foot gap ramps, driving on slopes with snowboarders, and doing doughnuts in hangars.
True race drivers don't need this kind of exposure; they prove who they are with the clock, the fastest win.
Real race car drivers start their career at the young age driving karts, and after decades of sweat and bloods, they progress into F3, LeMans, WRC, F1 and so on....not by selling skateboard shoes.
Few years back Colin McRae partecipated in the X-Games.....what an honor.
Now you have peeps like Brian Deegan and Dave Mirra.....how long they've been driving for? (they should stick to what they know best; doing FMX and BMX).
I guess at the end it's just a show, like the rest of the vids you see about Block. If this is the kind of exposure you think WRC needs in the US....I don't agree.

We need to welcome guys like Ken Block, Brian Deegan, Tanner Faust, Dave Mirra and Travis Pastrana in Rally for it to catch on here. I am pretty tired of all the coverage NASCAR gets.

The crossovers from extreme sports and drifting will only help introduce the sport to new fans. Otherwise the sport will remain as car nerds battling it out in the woods and no one cares.

Mike I can't agree with you more on the NASCAR crap.
Although I think drifting got too much coverage too soon and become somewhat boring. (everyone wants his part of the pie, but the pie is so big.....)
But Dave Mirra should stick to BMX, as much as Brian Deegan should stick to his FMX tricks.
It's been painful to watch these peeps embarrassing themselves at the X-Games with poor driving skill. (I bet you-you can do a lot better if you were invited).
What the US/ Rally needs, is inviting professional/ serious drivers from Europe if they want to have a positive impact on the US audience. (it's a deja' vu......first Pastrana made the jump....now everyone else).
Ken Block's exploit and circus-like videos don't cut it in the professional world of WRC.

Dave

"Racing is 20% driving and 90% marketing and hussle (yea, 110%). Sad, but true."

I thought that the Champion had the most to gain in his respective sport and not the flavor of the month. Like Valentino Rossi. He just won his 9th World Moto GP Championship today. Didn't he try rally racing a while back but gave it up because he sucks? Or Michael Schumacher, now racing motorcycles and hurting his neck. Did these two ever make more money than the champions in the highest levels of the sport that they were trying? I mean did Rossi ever make more than the WRC champion as a rally driver, and did Schumacher ever make more money racing motorcycles than Rossi. I always thought that that is the reason champions can command such crazy salaries, because they win. Schumacher 80 million a year.

Are you saying WRC teams care more about making money than winning?

I thought it was the other way around. Winning brings more money than losing with a star.

KillerBee

"Idiots don't make millions of dollars and get there name and talent in front of millions of people."

I have to disagree. Just look at boy bands.

Who the Hell is Ken Block? I've never heard of this Super Star before this article.