Hoonigan Racing star and 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship competitor Ken Block is well-known for going sideways in high-performance cars, and this year has been no exception, with the release of Gymkhana Nine and competing in World RX full time.
However, Block will face a stern challenge this weekend as he looks to defend his title in the Gymkhana GRiD – the European Gauntlet event, being held at Marathon in Greece.
Included in the lineup to take on the American ace will be Double FIA World Rallycross Champion and 2003 FIA World Rally Champion Petter Solberg, World RX event winner Reinis Nitiss and 2016 FIA European Rallycross Championship Supercar competitor Martin Kaczmarski, who has been a regular in the Semi-Final stages during this year’s series.
Solberg recently commented about his participation in the Gymkhana GRiD event during the penultimate round of World RX in Germany.
“Outside of rallycross, I’m really excited to be going to my first Gymkhana GRiD event in Greece at the end of the month. I think you’ve probably seen that I’m quite fond of smoking some tyres and that’s what the weekend will be about. While I’m there, maybe I’ll try and show my friend Ken Block how to do some donuts!”
The Norwegian has a healthy competitive spirit with his American friend, and expect to see both men push the limits during the competition. The event will be live-streamed from the website here where you can see how Solberg, Nitiss and Kaczmarski all fare against Block.
Martin Kaczmarski competing in the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars in 2016. Credit: GymkhanaGRiD
About Gymkhana GRiD
Held on a 100 metre x 100 metre open space of asphalt called the GRiD, each driver must record a time by completing a lap of two custom designed courses which include a pre-determined sequence of drifts, figure 8’s, donuts, and slaloms.
Split into two classes, drivers go head to head in All Wheel Drive and Rear Wheel Drive tyre slaying machinery. The head-to-head rounds comprise of two runs, with competitors paired up from a lottery-style selection process.
The slower driver will be eliminated, with the quicker driver progressing through to the next round. The eventual winner of each class will take on the head Hoonigan in Charge Ken Block and his chosen pro team mate at the last races of the event.
