What is the key to happiness? I don’t know, but my best guess is that it would involve vintage rally cars, like the Group A Ford Escort Cosworth Ken Block plans to rally this season. I can’t get enough of this car, and now there’s footage of it blasting down stage roads. Really good footage.
The Hoonigan crew made a short film out of Block getting used to his new Escort Cosworth for this season, and even if you’re not into their brotacular stunts back at the garage, this one is worth the watch. It’s all about how they’re getting along with their new (old) car (spoiler: stuff breaks) and all the fascinating things that differ from the modern rally cars Ken’s is used to.
“I could have veered off of one of the cliffs!” Block said of one code brown defcon 9000 moment. “That’s why we’re here. We’re testing!”
This time, the Hoonigan Racing Team is out in California’s Hungry Valley, and Block and codriver Alex Gelsomino getting back into the swing of things for stage rally. It’s been a while since Block’s had to translate stage notes into not crashing. So, they do their practice time like they would any other stage, and recce it beforehand to know what all’s ahead of them on the road.
But most importantly, this car is very, very good. It’s going to take some getting used to for Ken, but just listen to it. Look at it. It brings me great joy to see a classic Group A car throwing big rooster tails of dirt.
Bonus: even Ken’s wife Lucy is getting back into the stage rally with a Fiesta R2, which Alex gives us a full tour of. It looks like a ridiculous hoot to drive.