Tributes flow for late Sol Rally Barbados winner

The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) has joined hundreds of motor sports associations, participants and fans across the globe in paying tribute to late rally driver Ken Block. Block died in a snowmobile accident in Utah at the age of 55 yesterday.

American Block, along with co-driver Alex Gelsomino, claimed a terrific victory in Sol Rally Barbados 2020 in a new Ford Fiesta Rally2 which he had driven for only a few hours on the previous Thursday. He was the first winner of the BRC’s premier event to come from the FIA R5 class.

BRC public relations officer Neil Barnard stated: “It is absolutely tragic news. Sports people with larger than life public personas can sometimes be distant and detached when you meet them. Ken was the opposite of that. He was genuine, friendly and engaging, a true rally enthusiast whose overall victory on Sol Rally Barbados seemed to truly mean a lot to him.

“His wife Lucy and his children Lia, Kira and Mika accompanied him to Barbados in 2020, and my thoughts and deepest sympathies are with them as well as his long-standing co-driver Alex Gelsomino, Derek Dauncey and the entire Hoonigan team.”

Sol Rally Barbados 2020 was not Block’s first visit to compete in Barbados. He crashed in two previous outings. He was in the island for the Red Bull Global Rallycross series at Bushy Park and the 2014 Top Gear Festival when he contested his Ford Fiesta Rallycross Supercar against Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

A competitive rally driver in series such as Rally America and Global Rallycross, Block earned wide renown later in life for his “Gymkhana” video series on YouTube. The 10-part series, in which he performed daring racing feats, earned him nearly two million subscribers.

Block was riding a snowmobile up a steep slope in Wasatch County, Utah, when the vehicle upended, landing on top of him, the local sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. He was pronounced dead at the scene from the injuries he sustained. The sheriff’s office said that Block had been riding with a group but was alone when the crash occurred.

A competitive rally driver since 2005, Block was Rally America’s Rookie of the Year in his first season and went on to win rallycross medals at the X Games and podium finishes at the World Rallycross Championship.

He also competed in other actions sports, including motocross, skateboarding and snowboarding.

Fellow racers also paid tribute to Block, with former British Formula One world champion Jenson Button calling him “a talent that did so much for our sport”.

British former rally driver Malcolm Wilson told BBC Radio 5 that Block was an “infectious character” who helped bring the sport of rally racing to a global audience, especially through his social media videos.

“What he did with cars, the stunts that he did were just truly amazing,” Wilson said.

Nascar Xfinity Series driver Ryan Vargas said watching Block’s videos “shaped my personality and interest in cars”. (BBC/WG)