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Ken Block: America needs a purpose-built Rallycross track

Gymkhana viral video star Ken Block believes it’s time for America to develop a high-level, purpose-built Rallycross venue to allow the sport to grow and flourish.

Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing Division

Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing Division

Sylvain Morin

Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing Division Ford
Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing Division Ford
Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing Division Ford
Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing Division Ford
Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing Division Ford
Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing Division

Speaking to Motor1.com at last weekend’s World Rallycross Championship round at Trois-Rivieres circuit, Block said the lack of a facility means that development of the sport in the USA will always lag behind its traditional stronghold in Scandinavia.

The domestic Global Rallycross Championship, in which Block regularly competed until this year, races at temporary venues across America.

“First of all, we don’t even have a [full-time] track in America, and even this [the Canadian circuit] is a rallycross track thrown into a horse track,” said Block. “Really, we don’t have anything that compares.

“I was over in Norway and Sweden for a while a couple months ago and even just in their test tracks, they’re better than any track that we have in America for rallycross. It’s really unfortunate that we don’t have any of the facilities, even for teams to test in America.

“Hopefully in the long run we can have something in a major metropolis where teams can come out to test and practice and develop the grassroots scene, and it would be a top-level facility for us to race on.

“The Scandinavians have taken it a bit for granted because they have so many [tracks]. The Norway World Rallycross track and the Sweden one are two of the best in the world – and that’s only one of several that they have, they actually have multiples of them.

“I think that, over time, hopefully in America we can develop some tracks, and that’ll help develop more of a scene. But until then, if you look right now… out of the top eight [drivers], you’ve only got a couple that aren’t Scandinavian.”

Interview by Jake Holmes

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