- Lia Block competed in her first rally race when she was just 11 years old.
- She appeared in several episodes of her father’s Hoonigan YouTube series.
- Ken Block died in a snowmobile near his ranch in Utah in January of this year.
Lia Block, the daughter of legendary Ken Block will continue following in her late father’s footsteps and make her Extreme E debut in Sardinia, Italy this coming weekend.
The 16-year-old has grown up behind the wheel off-road racing, competing in Nitrocross NEXT, and in the American Rally Association Championship where she has several class victories and is currently sixth place in the overall 2023 standings.
Most recently she put on an emotional show getting behind the wheel of her father’s last race car, a 1,400-horsepower mid-engine Porsche 911 monster known as the Hoonipigasus, for an exhibition run to close out this year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
Ken Block who died in a snowmobile accident earlier this year was involved in the early development of the Extreme E championship. He was the first driver to race the series’ first car, the ODYSSEY 21 in competitive motorsports at the Dakar Rally in January 2020.
Now Lia has joined Carl Cox Motorsport ahead of the Extreme E Island X Prix on Sardinia off the coast of Italy. She will replace Christine Giampaoli Zonca, more commonly known by her nickname Christine GZ at the team for the rest of the season. Block will be partnered with Timo Scheider.
“I am thrilled to be making my Extreme E debut at the next round in Sardinia for the Island X Prix,” Lia said. “It is a huge opportunity to race for Carl Cox Motorsport and I cannot wait to get behind the wheel and out on the course. I am eager to do my best for the team and score some good results.
“I am really looking forward to working alongside Timo, who I have known for years, and the rest of the team – it is going to be my first race outside of the USA, and up against so many big names in the sport, but I am looking forward to the challenge and keen to get started.”
Carl Cox Motorsport is currently eighth in the Extreme E Season 3 standings. The team is hoping the new pairing of Block and Scheider will help them to climb the championship leaderboard.
“It is great to be able to welcome Lia into the team for the next round in Sardinia,” Carl Cox, Team Boss and Founder of Carl Cox Motorsport said.
“We have been watching Lia for a while as she has already demonstrated enormous potential behind the wheel. When she became available ahead of the upcoming Island X Prix we were keen to bring her into the team, and we’re looking forward to seeing how she fares alongside Timo.
“She has already been mentored by some Extreme E greats in Tanner [Foust] and Andreas [Bakkerud], so has learnt from the very best and is eager to show what she can do.”
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