Accidental death of Ken Block

Around 2 p.m. on Monday January 2 in Utah, Kenneth Paul Block died, victim of a snowmobile accident he was practicing with friends.

Ken Block was a 55-year-old American businessman and rally and rallycross driver, born November 21, 1967, in Long Beach south of Los Angeles, California.

“It is with our deepest regrets that we can confirm that Ken Block passed away in a snowmobile accident. Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And above all, a father and a husband. He will be sorely missed.

The Wasatch County Sheriff made it official in a statement:

“At approximately 2:00 p.m. on January 2, 2023, the Wasatch County 911 Emergency Center received a call reporting a snowmobile accident in the Mill Hollow area. Search departments responded, along with law enforcement from the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office, Utah State Parks and the US Forest Service. The driver, Kenneth Block, a 55-year-old man from Park City, Utah, was driving his snowmobile down a steep hill when the sled overturned and landed on him. He succumbed to his injuries at the scene.”

Ken Block was an extreme sports specialist. After starting his career as a showman in skateboarding, he moved on to motocross and then snowboarding before rallying and rallycross.

But it is above all thanks to his youtube videos of Gymkhana in which he performed drift figures at the wheel of competition vehicles that he became known worldwide. There he performed scenes worthy of the best action films at the wheel of Subaru then super-powerful Fords and more recently, since 2021, an Audi RS. Last year, he tested the brand’s electric buggy with the rings and planned to take part in the Dakar.

The spectacular Monster-sponsored driver has competed in 135 rallies in his career, including 25 WRCs between 2007 and 2018. He scored 18 points with a best result of 7th place in Mexico in 2013.

In 2016, the Belgian public had the opportunity to get to know him during the passage of the world rallycross championship in Mettet where he drove his Ford Focus. The DH had the opportunity to interview the star who declared: “I started from nothing. I live from my passion. I am a lucky man…”

It was not during a show, but during a walk with friends in the snow near his home that fate hit him hard. He had just turned 55 and still had lots of projects in his head. RIP Mister Block, the king of the show to whom the whole world of motorsport pays tribute today with images of sliding, skidding and spectacle of the famous N°43.