Ted Mendham Infallible Moderator Location: NH Join Date: 02/17/2006 Age: Ancient Posts: 697 Rally Car: once upon a time drove WRX, Sentra, SAAB 99 |
From Performance Car Magazine, New Zealand: In one of the most significant deals in rally history Ken Block is gearing up to move into the World Rally Championship according to recent reports. We love watching Block's famous antics behind the wheel of his purpose-built Gymkhana Subaru Impreza as much as you all do. But like many, we can't help but feel that the superstar's insane car control skills couldn't be put to better use than just showboating with mates. This deal could give Block the opportunity to graduate from the relatively low-visibility Rally America series to the top-tier WRC. Since Subaru, with who Block competes in the USA, pulled out of the WRC, Ken's been searching for another ride in the premier series, and reports now indicate that he – along with former Subaru driver Chris Atkinson – will be driving the 2009-spec Ford Focus WRC for the new Monster Energy Drink World Rally Team. Once the details are hammered out, both Block and Atkinson are expected to start next season in selected rounds of the championship before campaigning the full calendar the year after, probably behind the wheel of the new rally-spec Fiesta. Will Block be able to challenge the top guys in the WRC? Probably not. Is it a good thing for the WRC and for Block's own profile? Without doubt. link to article: http://www.performancecar.co.nz/news/5900/ken-block-heading-to-wrc-with-monster-ford Ted Mendham www.rensport.net |
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(Let's try playing nice one more time)
Firstly, John - you are right. Calling this deal 'one of the most significant deals in rally history' is overstating what we believe the deal to be. (The deal isn't done, so we can't really tell what the significance is. No matter the substance of the deal, that's a really substantial claim) But the question becomes ... what would you rate as some of the most significant deals in rally history? How do you measure that significance? First Rally: 2001 Driver (7), Co-Driver (44) Drivers (16) Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4) Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0) Last Updated, January 4, 2015 
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I think I'll start adding "most significant news in rally", "the premier", and "continued growth" to every press release I put out.
If that's how the paid people do it, and if they're really that good, shouldn't I learn from their expertise???
Anders Grassroots rally. It's what I think about. |
Ted Mendham Infallible Moderator Location: NH Join Date: 02/17/2006 Age: Ancient Posts: 697 Rally Car: once upon a time drove WRX, Sentra, SAAB 99 |
Dave Coleman Mega Moderator Location: Long Beach, CA Join Date: 05/13/2007 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 448 Rally Car: Mazda3, SE-R Spec-V, 510 |
John Vanlandingham Senior Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Ted Mendham Infallible Moderator Location: NH Join Date: 02/17/2006 Age: Ancient Posts: 697 Rally Car: once upon a time drove WRX, Sentra, SAAB 99 |
William Marks may get very depressed if he finds out that Ken won't be driving a Subaru next year. And, when William gets depressed allegedly terrible things happen. But, it's not his fault. Ted Mendham www.rensport.net Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2009 11:21AM by tedm. |
Banned Mega Moderator Location: the end of the universe Join Date: 02/12/2006 Age: Ancient Posts: 1,432 Rally Car: 1980 Opel Ascona B |
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Doivi Clarkinen Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > In any case this Ken Block deal just reminds me of > all the gentleman racers in pro racing. Rich guys > like Tracy Krohn, Seth Nieman, Jim Tafel, etc who, > because they own the team and pay the bills, get > to live out their Walter Mitty fantasies with the > big boys. They're competent enough to be out > there on the track (just barely) but they've hired > the pros to actually be competitive in the team > car. Not saying this is exactly the case with > Block, but surely no one expects (except perhaps > him?) that he will be competitive with the current > crop of WRC stars. But grats to him for being > able to afford to live the dream. That's been my take on this all along. So long as he doesn't crash so many bodies that it starts impacting Atko's drives, more power to him. //I don't think KB has any illusions about his competitiveness against the big boys - I watched the interview w/ him on 5th gear yesterday, and he was a little surprised when the interviewer mentioned him in the same sentence as Loeb. ////unfortunately KB's perpetual hype machine probably doesn't have any notion of how outclassed KB may be.  KF7RWG 
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