RIP Ken Block
 

I’m not a huge fan, but Ken Block was a source for auto hot rodding fantasies of today’s youth.

RIP. I did appreciate what he did. He had a remarkable vision.

Whoa... Thats a bummer....

Like so many things, snowmobiles can be wickedly dangerous.

Wow. That's a shocker. RIP.

Wow! He seemed to have a lot of passion and was willing to share it. He was only a few years older than I am.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a42381041/ken-block-dead/

That last bit really sucks.

I assisted in several private test sessions for Block. His team (and long-time co-driver Alex Gelsomino) is like family to him. It's the same group of guys that has been with him for years. I really feel for them and wonder what they're going to do now? Many don't know that he was first and foremost a rally enthusiast, not so much the Hoonigan guy that paid the bills. He really knew of, and appreciated, the history of the sport.

This is some video I shot of Ken and his crew at a test session.

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Real bummer. What a driver. Huge loss for family, friends and the fans. Rest in Peace.

Unbelievably dangerous, at least potentially, like a one liter sport bike on snow. I'm guessing that he was on something really fast and that he probably really knew how to hoon it. Really sad...RIP. :(

Ken was Living Life Large!

Shocking but not shocking. Constantly engaging in balls out motorsports… the risk does multiply :(

I feel bad, he took the risk for himself, but he still had children that needed him.

What will happen to the Porsche for the Pikes Peak hill climb? I criticized them for rushing that project. Deep inside he probably knew not to count on the future.

RIP

Terribly sad.

I've been a huge fan of Ken since the first Gymkhana back in the early 2000s.

Very talented driver with incredible car control and overall great guy, dad and hubby.

I'm sure he and Colin McCrae are now exchanging stories.

in a 2 wheeler you get thrown off
In a car, you are in a cage and you roll inside of it.
4 wheeler or snow machine ,the darn thing rolls over you..you are the crumple zone

We had a VP in Utah get rolled over by his quad, from VP, top of the world of a major Sofware company, to quadriplegic in the blink of an eye..

3 things scare the **** out of me, I'll never even try em: Quads, snow Machines and parapente chutes (low wing loading= high risk of collapse from gusts or fancy maneuvers )

Not disagreeing with you at all but on a snowmobile, you can somewhat manage the risk with your choices if you are the operator...same as on a motorcycle. But yeah, they are really potentially dangerous. Where I'm from, people die on them every winter in measurable numbers.

if you use a snow mobile, as a snowmobile, eg to get from A to B, cause well thats the only vehicle that works in frigging alaska.. its fine

But the thing is, people don't use it as an A to B machine but as a "fun lets run up and down a steep incline for ****s and giggles machine"

Ken Block was not going from A to B in it was he.

My comment was really in context of beyond use as a necessity..
as a fun machine, those 3 are dangerous , there are other fun machines that aren't as dangerous, so to me, not worth it

Jumping out of a plane, AFF chute.. count me in
parapente in the mountains.. No way.

I never new Ken Block personally but loved his over-the-top Hoonigan videos and the epic battles in Rally racing with one time teammate Travis Pastrana. Our circle of friends in motorsport overlapped at many points and his team had a lot of deep loyalty. Godspeed Ken.

A day at work on the streets of LA:

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Sad result of a dangerous lifestyle.
I feel bad for his family and friends.
His skill at drifting was just amazing.

i kinda aged out of his stuff.

but its a shame he died. snowmobiles and skiing seems to kill more drivers than driving does.

We used to snowmobile, back when our sleds were no where near that fast and where we rode wasn't nearly that steep or deep.

A 180 HP sled has to be nuts. From the photos he posted he was using it hard.

RIP. I enjoyed his videos and his rallying.

absolutely sucks.....

Three of my buddy's were snowmobiling along the shore of Lake Superior....about 50 miles from any houses or roads.
They went to stop and one of them coasted up too close to another guy that was stopped already. The ski of the moving sled went up into the foot/leg area of the other one. The ski broke the fibula and it was sticking right out through the skin.

It took almost 8 hours to get him to a hospital of any size.

A very sad day, as one who was around when he started DC (although I never owned a pair, I was a Van's guy) but once he got into Rallies, then he started the other video, I was hooked.
I also love the way he helped those around him and seemed to bring everything and everyone around him up, helping others live their dreams while he was living his.
As to the dumbass comments that he did it to himself, when it is your time, it is your time, my father died at age 68( only 10 years older than I am now)taking a crap, was that his fault?Hell, anyone who has known me a long time, will tell you that I should have died several times. Fact is, some people choose to exist while others of us chose to live life, and enjoy life to its fullest. Block chose the latter, his wife, family and friends loved the man who was the man they knew. R.I. P., the positive energy that you spread in all matters of your like will not be forgotten.

Wow , sucks. :(

Never realized he was close to my age. Thought he was a lot younger.

.

His daughter, quite the driver in her own right, will probably keep the legacy alive.

Setting up AX course one day and got to see him do some of the El Toro stuff early on, what a hoot that was.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/ken-block-gymkhana-1/

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This was at LSPR 2013 where Ken literally wadded it up into a ball. They walked away. That's his wife Lucy on the right who was also in the rally and came across the wreckage.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1672788355.jpg

A snowmobile has no driver protection like a car does.
Even though they both go the same speeds.

Just from 2 months ago ....


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Shocking. Such awful news.

Amazing man and talent gone way too soon.

A great short 3 minute video compilation of all his artistry pushing man and machine the the very edge of space and timing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkmGXJMcQZI

Snowmobile and Alcohol = Peanut butter and jelly. Not sure if ken drank but it seems to happen every year up here in the great white north.

^^ You are correct about snowmobiles and alcohol and fatal accidents. But I can GUARANTEE that was not the case here. Ken was involved in what I would call extreme snowmobiling in the steep mountain backcountry. They were not a bunch of idiots out barhopping on their sleds. This video was shot the day of the accident and gives an idea of what they were doing.

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RIP
So much talent.

I'm sorry to hear about Ken's untimely passing. He was fun to watch on Hooligan videos...talk about huge talent in rallying. He will be missed...

That was a great tribute video. The man certainly had some car control for sure.

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https://youtu.be/-g1cpB2HpfY

Nice tribute video.

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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1673563283.jpg
This was taken at the hundred acre woods rally in 2014. He really was the most impressive driver there.

Ken was a incredible driver and had skills that were unmatched. May he rest in peace.