Social media star, rally driver and extreme sport enthusiast Ken Block has passed away following a snowmobile accident near Woodland, Utah at the age of 55.
Block is best known for his Gymkhana series of videos starting in 2008, which have since clocked up millions of views on YouTube and captured the imagine of many car enthusiasts.
The last of which was Ken Block’s Electrikhana: High Stakes Playground; Las Vegas to launch his partnership with Audi in an S1 Hoonitron built by his Hoonigan Racing Division. It marked a new era for Block as the American went electric for the first time.
One of the co-founders of popular streetwear brand DC Shoes, Block competed in skateboarding, snowboarding and motocross as he sold his share in the company some years later.
A late starter to rallying alongside fellow DC Shoes athlete and extreme sports star Travis Pastrana, Block won the Rally America Rookie of the Year award in 2005 before becoming a factory Subaru driver in 2006.
As rallying gained a profile in America due to its inclusion into the 2006 X Games where Block won bronze behind Pastrana and legend Colin McRae, he was second overall in the Rally America National Championship.
Further expanding his horizons in 2007, he entered World Rally Championships for the first time in Mexico and New Zealand as he achieved multiple top five stage times in the Production World Rally Championship class.
Block continued to contest the Rally America series when he transitioned to Ford in 2010, but this opened further doors as he became the first American driver to compete full-time in the World Rally Championship.
Block’s best result was a seventh in the 2013 Rally Mexico.
Outside of this, Block took Top Gear presenter James May for a ride on the popular program in 2009, completed a stunt jumping a Subaru 52m for a Discovery Channel documentary in addition to being the face of the Dirt franchise of video games and Head Hoon In Charge at Hoonigan Industries.
Block also toured Australia in 2011 visiting Calder Park and dragging then Ford Performance Racing driver Will Davison in his Ford FG Falcon V8 Supercar.
Repco The Garage sends its condolences to Block’s wife Lucy and his three children at this time.