This weekend was the first ever Ken Block Invitational Gymkhana Grid event. This event was headlined by some of the best rally and drifting talent around. Names like Vaughn Gittin Jr., (2010 drifting champ) Tanner Foust, (X-Games, drifting, and rally), Andrew Comrie-Piccard (North American rally), and Daijiro Yoshihara (drift) made up the grid with a host of other big named drivers. Drifting and setting the fastest time around the pre-designed course are the name of the game for success.
Tanner Foust would set fastest qualification time for the AWD category as he continues to dominate all things extreem motorsport. His time for would be a 50.758. Full results listed below:
1 – Tanner Foust :50.758
2 – Ken Block :51.706
3 – Stephan Verdier :52.884
4 – Andrew Comrie-Picard :55.222
5 – Wolfgang Hoeck :57.191
6 – Thomas Smith :57.689
7 – Jordan Lipman 1:07.181
8 – Aaron “Biggie” Brown 1:05.052
9 – Bucky Lasek DNS.
The Rear wheel drive category would prove to be fun and Dai Yoshihara would take P1 with a 55.570. Not only would he take fastest time, but he would take the win in the rear wheel drive class and become the first champion in that class with a great drive. Yoshi’s Discount Tire Nissan would prove to be too much for the competition as he put together solid back to back runs.
The AWD class would prove exciting as Ken Block and Tanner Foust would go head to head in the finals. Foust would take the first round out of the best of three. Tanner would take a penalty and still beat the master hoonigan at his own game. The second run would see Block knock over a barrel in his Monster Ford Fiesta and take a penalty of his own. That would be more than enough to give the first Ken Block Invitational to Tanner Foust who continues to show that he is the master of all things crazy involving AWD cars.
All in all the event was fantastic! I will definitely watch the next session and I am a supporter of this event. Many have said that Gymkhana Grid is a reason that American rally cannot be taken seriously. I say that is crap. Gymkhana showed a level of drag racing, drifting, and amazing car control skills. This series has the potential to really catch on and can act as a bridge to other series. Maybe bring new fans to Formula Drift or Rally. The event was intense and close and I can’t wait to see the next one!
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Man, wish I could have been able to watch this. Sounds like it was a great show for fans. Back in the day, old timers in SCCA would tell me about events they did in autocross but with things added to it. Like a bowl of oranges duct taped to the roof of your car, had to set the fastest time. However every orange that fell out was 10 seconds added to your time.
This sounds maybe not as lame but the same principal be fast, yet have control.
Yeah send me a link for a tape delay of this, now I really want to see it.
I must admit that I’ve never been convinced of Block’s precision behind the wheel. He’s quick, he’s exciting to watch, but he’s also sloppy. Tanner Foust’s drifting skills really came to the forefront in this competition. Having watched the video, I’d totally buy a ticket if they came to KC! Looks like a fun time. Any word on how their attendance was?