Gravity Bureau Inc. – Blog

The 2010 Sno*Drift Rally was icy. REALLY icy. The competitors that we spoke to couldn’t believe how slippery the roads near Atlanta, MI were this year. The fact that
studded winter tires are not permitted in the part of Michigan where the rally takes place made for a spectacular rally-car ice dance.

Travis Pastrana negotiated this year’s rally with a broken collar-bone and to everyone’s surprise took the victory! He said that his injury actually helped make his driving smoother and prevented him from taking unnecessary risks.

Travis Pastrana negotiating an icy corner at Sno*Drift 2010 - ©Neil McDaid

Travis showing off his latest scar... And celebrating vistory with his co-driver, Cristian Edstrom - ©Neil McDaid

Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino brought out their latest toy – Monster World Rally Ford Fiesta. They showed top-notch performance and were in the 3rd position when they were forced to retire due to a technical problem. Take a look at the new Fiesta in snow-mode below:

Ken Block cutting a corner in his rally-prepped Ford Fiesta - ©Neil McDaid

Block's Fiesta sideways - ©Neil McDaid

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard snatched-up the second place in the their Rockstar Mitsubishi EVO X. See below for in-car footage of Antoine and Nathalie tearing through the icy stages.

Antoine L'Estage & Nathalie Richard sporting new colours on their Rockstar EVO X - ©Neil McDaid

William Bacon and Peter Watt took the third place in their 2006 Mitsubishi EVO IX. Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard placed at a respectable fourth place despite of a close encounter with a snowbank. Andrew commented on this year’s Sno*Drift conditions and said that “the first few stages were the iciest I have ever seen… and the rally just got icier from there.” ACP owes his strong finish to a fellow rally team of pro mountain bikers Carl Decker and Adam Craig, who stopped in the middle of a stage and pulled the NOS EVO IX back onto the road.

Andrew ACP Comrie-Picard sideways in his EVO IX - ©Neil McDaid

The Polish crew of Andi Mancin & Maciej Wislawski placed 12th with their 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

Andi Mancin & Maciej Wislawski negotiating an icy curve in a 2007 EVO IX - ©Neil McDaid

Arkadiusz Gruszka & Dominik Jozwiak launching off a jump - ©Neil McDaid

Gruszka's EVO IX with rally-lights at a night stage - ©Neil McDaid

Official Rally-America 2010 Sno*Drift Rally video highlights:

Photo Credit: Neil McDaid

Sources: RallyBuzz, Rally-America, SpecialStage

The 2009 OMSE Ford Fiesta used by Marcus Gronholm at last year’s Pikes Peak hill climb Fiesta is officially Ken Block’s new rally car for the 2010 season. Ken wil be entering 6 Rally-America events with Alex Gelsomino as his co-driver. The RA events that Ken & Alex will be attending include:
Sno*Drift – January 29-30, 2010
100 Acre Wood – February 26-27, 2010
Olympus Rally – April 24-25, 2010
Oregon Trail Rally – May 14-16, 2010
STPR Rally – June 4-5, 2010
New England Forest Rally – July 16-17, 2010

And here’s the official list of WRC events that Ken will be crashing in a Ford Focus RS:
Mexico – March 5-7, 2010
Turkey – April 16-18, 2010
Portugal – May 28-30, 2010
Germany – August 20-22, 2010
France – September 30-October 3, 2010
Spain – October 22-24, 2010
Wales – November 11-14, 2010

Last, but not least, Ken will be crashing X-Games 16 in LA on July 29-August 1, 2010.

There are plans to shoot the Gymkhana 3 video later this year with a OMSE Ford Fiesta. “To build the Gymkhana car feels thrilling. It is something over the top where we have totally free hands engineering wise which is very inspiring”, says Andréas Eriksson of OMSE Ford.

Ken’s new rally-car looks stunning and the Gravity Bureau team can’t wait to get some coverage of the 2010 Fiesta in action at Rally-America events this season!

Source: RallyBuzz, Rally-America.

Ken Block's 2010 Ford Fiesta

#43 Rally-America Ford

Alex Gelsomino at LSPR'09 - Ken Block's Co-driver for the 2010 Rally-America season

Rally driver extraordinaire and YouTube sensation Ken Block announced today that he will compete in the World Rally Championship circuit in 2010. He signed a deal with Ford and will be piloting one of two Monster Energy World Rally Team’s Fords. His rally weapons will be prepared by UK-based M-Sport. Ken will be the first American ever to participate in the WRC.

Ken said: “Racing in the World Rally Championship has always been a dream of mine but I’d still be dreaming if I promised podiums in the near future. I will be going head-to head with the greatest drivers on the planet. And sure, I will be giving it my all but my main objective for 2010 is to develop into a competitive driver for 2011 and beyond.”

Block is still planning to compete in the Rally-America circuit, where he will be driving a Ford Fiesta rally car. We look forward to covering Ken’s progress in the new car at the 2010 RA events. The biggest question on our minds is whether Alex Gelsomino will remain Ken’s co-driver. We’re also betting on the fact that ex-Subaru World Rally Team driver will be piloting the second Monster WRC Ford.

All of us here at Gravity Bureau are wishing Ken all the best on the WRC circuit and we can’t wait to take photos of the new Monster Energy World Rally Team’s Fords here in North America. We would also love to see a WRC event in the US or Canada in the next few years. STPR would be a great venue for an event of this caliber.

Ken Block enters the WRC in a Ford ©Monster Energy World Rally Team

Historic shot - Ken Block as a member of the Subaru Rally Team at LSPR'09 ©GravityBureau.com