The 2008 World Rally Championship season was the 36th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 15 rallies and began on January 24, with the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally. Frenchman Sébastien Loeb successfully retained the Drivers' World Championship, his and co-driver Daniel Elena's record-breaking fifth consecutive title, all of them attained driving Citroëns. In addition, Citroën secured their fourth Manufacturers' title, and their first since 2005, from 2006 and 2007 victors, Ford.

Rule changes[link]

The banning of tyre mousse made punctures much more common (pictured Jaan Molder with a rear wheel puncture in Italy).

The running order for the first day is governed by championship position, with the championship leader running first on the road. For every other day of a rally, the order is decided by the previous end of day classification (with the leader on classification running first). The term 'leg' has been replaced by 'day' in order to sound more understandable. Extra 10 minute service prior to the finish podium has been added, intended to allow the service park to remain an attraction until the end of the event.^[1]

With the switch to Pirelli tyres, tyre mousse (along with all anti-deflation devices) has been banned, and fewer compounds are available. Also the teams aren't allowed to modify tyres by themselves (eg. by making additional cuts) anymore.^[2][3] At the first event of the season, the available tires were the soft slick DS tire (Pirelli PZero^[4]), the WX snow tire without studs, and the WX snow tire with studs (both variants of Pirelli Sottozero^[4]).^[5] The same snow tyres were used in Sweden as well. Later on loose surface tyres were introduced: Pirelli Scorpion, available in two variants – hard compound for abrasive surfaces, such as roads in Mexico or Greece, and soft one, for more muddy stages as seen on Welsh event.^[4] Tire walls have been strengthened in order to endure long, rough gravel stages often full of sharp rocks. The tread on Scorpions is asymmetric and directional, as it has proven more efficient during the tests.^[4]

Calendar[link]

Jean-Marie Cuoq and Jari-Matti Latvala on a transport section of the 2008 edition of the Monte Carlo Rally.

The 2008 season includes 15 rallies, which is one less than the 2007 season. Rally Norway, Rally Portugal and Rally Ireland were dropped from the calendar for 2008. Rally of Turkey returned to the schedule, and Jordan Rally is part of the calendar for the first time. Rally Australia was planned to make a return after being absent in 2007, but the organizers submitted a request to the FIA to delay the event's return to the schedule until 2009.^[6]

The events also part of the Production World Rally Championship are Sweden, Argentina, Greece, Turkey, Finland, New Zealand, Japan and Britain.^[7] The seven rallies also on the Junior World Rally Championship schedule are Mexico, Jordan, Italy, Finland, Germany, Spain and France.^[8]

Round	Dates	Race
1	24–27 January	/ Monte Carlo Rally
2	8–10 February	Swedish Rally
3	28 February-2 March	Rally Mexico
4	27–30 March	Rally Argentina
5	24–27 April	Jordan Rally
6	16–18 May	Rally d'Italia Sardegna
7	29 May-1 June	Acropolis Rally
8	13–15 June	Rally of Turkey
9	31 July-3 August	Rally Finland
10	15–17 August	Rallye Deutschland
11	28–31 August	Rally New Zealand
12	2–5 October	Rally Catalunya
13	10–12 October	Tour de Corse
14	31 October-2 November	Rally Japan
15	5–7 December	Wales Rally GB

Teams and drivers[link]

The teams and drivers for the 2008 season are as follows:

Team	Constructor	Car	Tyre	No	Drivers	Co-driver	Rounds
Citroën Total World Rally Team	Citroën	C4 WRC	P	1	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	All
				2	Daniel Sordo	Marc Marti	All
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 07/08	P	3	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	All
				4	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	1–11, 14–15
					François Duval	Patrick Pivato	12–13
				19	Khalid Al Qassimi	Michael Orr	1–2, 5–7, 9–10, 12–13, 15
Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC2007/8	P	5	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	All
				6	Chris Atkinson	Stéphane Prévot	All
				14	Brice Tirabassi	Fabrice Gordon	12–13
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 07	P	7	Gianluigi Galli	Giovanni Bernacchini	1–10
					François Duval	Patrick Pivato	11, 14
						Denis Giraudet	15
					Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	12–13
				8	François Duval	Eddy Chevaillier	1
						Patrick Pivato	7
					Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	2, 4–5, 7–9
					Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	3, 6, 11, 14–15
					Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	12–13
				14	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	1, 10, 13, 15
				16	Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	1, 4–5, 7–10
				20	Barry Clark	Paul Nagle	13, 15
				46	Valentino Rossi	Carlo Cassina	15
		Focus RS WRC 04/05		23	Steve Perez	Paul Spooner	15
				24	Dave Weston, Jr	Aled Davies	15
Munchi's Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 07	P	9	Federico Villagra	Jorge Pérez Companc	3–9, 11–12, 14
				10	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	3, 6, 11–12, 14
					Luís Pérez Companc	Jose Maria Volta	4, 9
					Barry Clark	Jose Diaz	5
						Paul Nagle	8
					Armodios Vovos	Loris Meletopoulos	7
Suzuki World Rally Team	Suzuki	SX4 WRC	P	11	Toni Gardemeister	Tomi Tuominen	All
				12	Per-Gunnar Andersson	Jonas Andersson	All
Major entries by teams not registered as manufacturers
PH-Sport	Citroën	C4 WRC	P	15	Urmo Aava	Kuldar Sikk	2, 5–13, 15
				16	Conrad Rautenbach	David Senior	3–15
				17	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	15
		Xsara WRC		21	Conrad Rautenbach	David Senior	1–2
Team Rallye Cuoq	Peugeot	307 WRC	P	18	Jean-Marie Cuoq	Philippe Janvier	1
Adapta World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2007	P	18	Mads Østberg	Ole Kristian Unnerud	2, 6–7, 9, 12–13, 15
Ramsport	Ford	Focus RS WRC 06	P	20	Matti Rantanen	Jan Lönegren	9
				23	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Floene	2, 8–10, 12–13
						Maria Andersson	6
Van Merksteijn Motorsport		Focus RS WRC 06/07		22	Peter van Merksteijn, Jr.	Eddy Chevaillier	10, 12
				24	Peter van Merksteijn, Sr.	Hilco van Beek	2, 6, 10
						Erwin Berkhof	12
Ipatec Racing		Focus RS WRC 06		61	René Kuipers	Erwin Mombaerts	10
				64	Dennis Kuipers	Kees Hagman	10

• – indicates a car running with varying numbers during the season

J-WRC entries[link]

No	Drivers	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
31	Martin Prokop	Jan Tománek	Citroën C2 S1600	-
32	Jaan Mölder	Frédéric Miclotte	Suzuki Swift S1600	-
33	Aaron Burkart	Michael Kölbach	Citroën C2 S1600	-
34	Andrea Cortinovis	Giancarla Guzzi	Renault Clio S1600	-
35	Michał Kościuszko	Maciek Szczepaniak	Suzuki Swift S1600	-
36	Vilius Rožukas	Andrius Šošas	Citroën C2 S1600	-
37	Simone Bertolotti	Daniele Vernuccio	Renault Clio R3	-
38	Francesco Fanari	Massimiliano Bosi	Citroën C2 R2	-
39	Stefano Albertini	Piercarlo Capolongo	Renault Clio R3	-
40	Miloš Komljenović	Aleksandar Jeremić	Renault Clio R3	-
41	Patrik Sandell	Emil Axelsson	Renault Clio S1600	-
42	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Citroën C2 S1600	-
43	Florian Niegel	Andre Kachel	Suzuki Swift S1600	-
44	Hans Weijs, Jr.	Hans van Goor	Citroën C2 R2	-
45	Kevin Abbring	Erwin Mombaerts	Renault Clio R3	-
46	Shaun Gallagher	Michael Morrissey	Citroën C2 S1600	-
47	Gilles Schammel	Renaud Jamoul	Renault Clio R3	-
48	Alessandro Bettega	Simone Scattolin	Renault Clio R3	-

Events[link]

The Rally Finland is notable this year for having dropped its famous Ouninpohja stage. This has been done for safety reasons, however this is likely to be a huge disappointment for race fans.^[9]

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers				Statistics
		Rank	Driver	Car	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
1	/ 76ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo (January 24–27) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:39:17.0	19	365.09 km	47	34
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:41:51.4
		3	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2007	3:42:15.6
2	57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally (February 8–10) — Results and report	1	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	2:46:41.2	20	340.24 km	61	49
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	2:47:39.5
		3	Gianluigi Galli	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	2:49:04.4
3	22º Corona Rally México (February 28– March 02) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:33:29.9	20	353.75 km	40	28
		2	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2007	3:34:36.0
		3	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:35:09.6
4	28º Rally Argentina (March 27–30) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	4:05:48.6	21	347.91 km	56	31
		2	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2007	4:08:21.8
		3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	4:09:53.3
5	Jordan Rally (April 24–27) — Results and report	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:02:47.9	22	359.26 km	54	33
		2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	4:04:03.6
		3	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2007	4:07:47.4
6	5º Rally d'Italia Sardegna (May 16–18) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:57:17.2	17	344.73 km	57	38
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:57:27.8
		3	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:57:32.5
7	55th BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally of Greece (May 28– June 01) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:54:54.7	20	331.52 km	60	42
		2	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza WRC2008	3:56:04.2
		3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:56:50.8
8	9th Rally of Turkey (June 13–15) — Results and report	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:42:07.1	19	360.12 km	60	37
		2	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:42:15.0
		3	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	4:42:32.8
9	58th Neste Oil Rally Finland (July 31– August 03) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	2:54:05.5	24	340.42 km	99	68
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	2:54:14.5
		3	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2008	2:57:22.5
10	27. ADAC Rallye Deutschland (August 15–17) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:26:19.7	19	352.89 km	81	57
		2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:27:07.4
		3	François Duval	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:27:39.7
11	38th Repco Rally New Zealand (August 28–31) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:59:18.9	18	353.04 km	57	35
		2	Dani Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:59:36.4
		3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	4:00:00.4
12	44º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada (October 02–05) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:21:17.4	18	353.62 km	69	48
		2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:21:42.3
		3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:22:19.9
13	52ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France (October 10–12) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:42:58.0	16	359.02 km	71	54
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:46:22.7
		3	François Duval	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:46:29.6
14	5th Rally Japan (October 31– November 02) — Results and report	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:25:03.0	29	343.69 km	86	57
		2	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:25:34.1
		3	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:27:33.6
15	64th Wales Rally of Great Britain (December 05-07) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	2:43:09.6	19	282.35 km	78	47
		2	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:25:34.1
		3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	2:44:30.2

Standings[link]

Drivers' championship[link]

Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ARG JOR ITA GRC TUR FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN GBR  Pts  1 Sébastien Loeb 1 Ret 1 1 10 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 122 2 Mikko Hirvonen 2 2 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 4 3 3 2 1 8 103 3 Daniel Sordo 11 6 17 3 2 5 5 4 4 2 2 2 Ret DSQ 3 65 4 Jari-Matti Latvala 12 1 3 15 7 3 7 2 39 9 Ret 6 4 2 2 58 5 Chris Atkinson 3 21 2 2 3 6 Ret 13 3 6 Ret 7 6 4 Ret 50 6 Petter Solberg 5 4 12 Ret Ret 10 2 6 6 5 4 5 5 8 4 46 7 François Duval 4 3 Ret 4 3 Ret 6 25 8 Henning Solberg 9 13 5 Ret 4 7 8 5 5 7 9 11 15 Ret Ret 22 9 Gianluigi Galli 6 3 Ret 7 8 4 Ret Ret Ret Ret Inj Inj Inj Inj Inj 17 10 Matthew Wilson 10 Ret 6 Ret 5 12 6 7 9 12 17 9 8 7 9 15 11 Urmo Aava 18 Ret 8 4 Ret 16 8 5 35 7 DNS 13 12 Per-Gunnar Andersson 8 Ret Ret 24 Ret 9 11 Ret Ret 15 6 32 17 5 5 12 13 Toni Gardemeister Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 Ret 8 10 7 13 13 6 7 10 14 Federico Villagra 7 6 6 14 13 9 Ret 8 12 9 9 15 Conrad Rautenbach Ret 16 16 4 26 13 10 8 10 10 Ret Ret 14 Ret 15 6 16 Andreas Mikkelsen 5 Ret 19 12 11 8 11 5 17 Matti Rantanen 7 2 18 Jean-Marie Cuoq 7 2 19 Juho Hänninen 8 21 13 14 29 24 10 Ret 1 20 Andreas Aigner 31 8 14 11 Ret Ret 13 1 21 Sébastien Ogier 8 11 22 36 19 Ret 20 26 1 Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ARG JOR ITA GRC TUR FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN GBR Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Injured or ill (Inj) Excluded (EX) Suspended (SUS) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship[link]

Rank	Team	Event															Total points
		MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	JOR	ITA	GRC	TUR	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	GBR
1	Citroën Total World Rally Team	11	4	10	16	9	14	15	11	15	18	18	18	10	6	16	191
2	BP Ford World Rally Team	8	18	11	7	13	14	10	18	9	7	6	11	14	18	9	173
3	Subaru World Rally Team	10	6	9	8	6	3	8	3	9	7	5	6	7	6	5	98
4	Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team	8	8	3	3	7	5	3	4	4	6	0	4	7	2	3	67
5	Suzuki World Rally Team	2	3	0	1	0	1	3	0	2	1	7	0	1	7	6	34
6	Munchi's Ford World Rally Team	0	0	6	4	4	2	0	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	22

Junior championship[link]

Junior world champion Sébastien Ogier competing in a Citroën C2 S1600 at the 2008 Rallye Deutschland.

Pos	Driver	MEX	JOR	ITA	FIN	GER	ESP	FRA	Pts
1	Sébastien Ogier	1	1	5		1	Ret	2	42
2	Aaron Burkart	4		3	4	2	3	5	34
3	Martin Prokop	7		10	1	Ret	1	1	32
4	Shaun Gallagher	6	2	4	5	4	4		30
5	Michał Kościuszko	3	Ret	1	3		9	Ret	22
6	Alessandro Bettega		Ret	2	Ret	3	2	Ret
7	Patrik Sandell	5	Ret	7	2		5	6
8	Jaan Mölder	2	Ret	9	Ret		6	11	11
9	Stefano Albertini		5	6	13	10	7	9	9
10	Gilles Schammel		3	12	7	Ret	Ret	10	8
11	Florian Niegel		4	Ret	9	8	10	7
12	Simone Bertolotti		6	Ret	10	5	8	Ret
13	Kevin Abbring		Ret	Ret	6	6	11	8	7
14	Pierre Campana							3	6
15	Pierre Marché							4	5
16	Andrea Cortinovis		7	11	DNS	7	DNS	DNS	4
17	Hans Weijs, Jr.		Ret	8	8	Ret	Ret	12	2
18	Francesco Fanari	8	9	13	12	9	Ret		1
19	Miloš Komljenović	Ret	8	Ret	11
Pos	Driver	MEX	JOR	ITA	FIN	GER	ESP	FRA	Pts

Production championship[link]

Points table:^[10]

Pos	Driver	SWE	ARG	GRC	TUR	FIN	NZL	JPN	GBR	Pts
1	Andreas Aigner	11	1	1	1		Ret		2	38
2	Juho Hänninen	1		7		1	5	1	Ret	36
3	Jari Ketomaa	2	3	Ret		3	6		4	28
4	Patrik Sandell	3	Ret	Ret	2		2			22
5	Martin Prokop	4	7	14	DSQ		1		Ret	17
6	Martin Rauam		5	DSQ	4		3	Ret		15
7	Fumio Nutahara		4	4		5	Ret	8	Ret
8	Armindo Araújo	7		3	5		12	9	7	14
9	Bernardo Sousa	8	8	2	11		7		9	12
10	Patrik Flodin	16				DSQ			1	10
11	Mirco Baldacci		Ret	Ret	3		Ret	6	Ret	9
12	Toshihiro Arai	6	Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	3
13	Evgeny Novikov		Ret	15	Ret		Ret	2	Ret	8
14	Sebastián Beltrán		2
15	Jussi Välimäki					2
16	Guy Wilks								3	6
17	Evgeny Aksakov	13	12	5	Ret	7			Ret
18	Evgeny Vertunov	Ret		6	6	Ret	Ret	Ret
19	Eyvind Brynildsen	15		Ret	Ret	10		4		5
20	Oscar Svedlund	Ret				4
21	Hayden Paddon						4
22	Uwe Nittel	5	Ret	Ret	Ret					4
23	Takuma Kamada							5
24	Jaromír Tarabus								5
25	Amjad Farrah		6	9	Ret					3
26	Spyros Pavlides		11	Ret			10		6
27	Jussi Tiippana	11				6
28	Simone Campedelli	9	9	Ret	7	8			10
29	Katsuhiko Taguchi							7		2
30	Giorgio Bacco		13		8		Ret			1
31	David Higgins								8
32	Loris Baldacci			8					Ret
33	Stewart Taylor						8
Pos	Driver	SWE	ARG	GRC	TUR	FIN	NZL	JPN	GBR	Pts

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 2008 in World Rally Championship

• 2008 calendar at WRC.com

Ken Block
Ken Block in 2008.
Nationality	American
Born	(1967-11-21) 21 November 1967 (age 44) Long Beach, California
2012 Rally America
Debut season	2005
Current team	Monster World Rally Team
Best finish	2nd Overall in Rally America in 2006 and 2008
Awards
2004[1] 2005[1] 2009	• One of the most influential people (#17) in Sports Business Journal • Ad Age's Marketing 50 • One of the Fast 50 in Fast Company Magazine • 40 Under 40 Awards, Sports Business Journal • Rally America's Rookie of the Year • Gymkhana 2 was 2009's #4 most viewed viral video

Ken Block (born November 21, 1967, in Long Beach, California)^[2] is a professional rally driver with the Monster World Rally Team. Block is also one of the co-founders and recently appointed Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes.^[1] Block has also competed in many action sports events including skateboarding, snowboarding, and motocross.

Rallying[link]

2005[link]

In 2005, Ken Block began his national rallying career with the Vermont SportsCar team.^[3] Vermont SportsCar prepared a 2005 Subaru WRX STi for Block to compete. His first event of the rallying season was Sno*Drift, where he ended up finishing seventh overall and fifth in the Group N class.^[4] During the 2005 season, Block had five top five finishes and placed third overall in the Group N class and fourth overall in the Rally America National Championship.^[3] At the end of his first rallying year, Ken Block had won the Rally America Rookie of the Year award.^[5]

2006[link]

In 2006, Ken Block along with his DC rally teammate Travis Pastrana signed a new sponsorship deal with Subaru.^[3] Through this deal with Subaru, the teammates became known as "Subaru Rally Team USA."^[3] With the new rally season, Block also got a brand new Vermont SportsCar prepped 2006 Subaru WRX STi.^[3] He competed in the first ever X Games rally event at X Games XII.^[3] In the competition, Block ended up finishing third to take the bronze.^[3] He went on to compete in the 2006 Rally America National Championship, where he finished second overall.^[3]

2007[link]

In 2007, Ken Block competed in the X Games XIII rally event, where he placed second overall and won a silver medal.^[5] In the 2007 Rally America National Championship, Block finished third overall.^[5] During this season, Block also entered in a few rounds of the World Rally Championship; Rally Mexico and Rally New Zealand.^[4] In Rally New Zealand, Block recorded two top-five stage times in the Group N class.^[4] At the end of 2007, Block had achieved 19 podiums and 8 overall victories in rally events.^[1]

2008[link]

In 2008, Block was provided with a brand new rally prepped 2008 Subaru WRX STi to compete. Block decided to compete in the Rallye Baie-des Chaleurs of the Canadian Rally Championship to gain some experience with his new 2008 rally car and prepare for the World Rally Championships later this year.^[6] Block gained his first Canadian rally win at the event.^[6] This was only the second event for the new car.^[6] Block and his co-driver were unable to get any championship points at the event due to not having a Canadian competition license.^[6] Block competed in the Rally New York USA competition and finished in first place.^[7] In the X Games XIV rally competition, Block finished tied for third place with Dave Mirra.^[8] This occurrence was due to both competitors having issues with their car. Block, who made it to the semi-finals of the event, had a radiator problem after landing the car awkwardly on a jump. With both bronze place competitors in damaged cars unable to compete, the medals were awarded to both of them.^[8]

Block competed in the 2008 Rally America National championship, which concluded on October 17, 2008. In the event, he finished second overall with a strong victory in the last event. In the Lake Superior Performance Rally stage, Block finished over one minute ahead of his next closest competitor and secured the second overall position.^[9] Next up for Block this rally season is three World Rally Championship events.^[4]

2009[link]

Block appeared in a segment of motoring show Top Gear.^[10]

2010[link]

Ken Block testing Ford Fiesta for the 2010 Rally America season

Block driving a Ford Focus RS WRC at the 2010 Rallye de France

On January 6, 2010 the Monster World Rally Team announced Ken as their driver for selected rounds of the World Rally Championship, in which he will be campaigning the Monster/Ford Racing Focus RS WRC 08. His car will be prepared and run by the North of England based M-Sport, who also prepare the official Ford WRC cars. He will be simultaneously running in his sixth season of the Rally America Championship in an open class Ford Fiesta, as well as his fifth X-games. Ken will also be the first ever American driver to campaign for the World Rally Championship. On February 27, Block won the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood (Rally America) for the 5th consecutive time. This broke the record held by John Buffum.^[11] Ken is currently being trained by former Ford factory driver Markko Märtin. At the Spain rally, he won his first 2 points in World Rally Championship.

2011[link]

On March 23, Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino were taken to hospital, having rolled their Ford Fiesta RS WRC during the shakedown stage of the 2011 Rally de Portugal in Faro, Portugal.^[12] A representative of the Monster World Rally team later stated that both men were fine.^[13]

Complete Rally America results[link]

(key)

Complete WRC results[link]