At sixteen, getting into a rear-wheel-drive rally car takes a lot of guts. When Lia Block returns to the track, it’s about more than just racing. It’s also a way to honor her late father, Ken Block, who died in a snowmobile accident earlier this year. His death shocked the auto industry and made people wonder if the Block name would live on in rally racing. Ken and his daughter Lia were very interested in racing and cars, so there was a little break. “This year is going to be hard,” Lia Block said on Instagram when she showed off her new car. But I’m glad to be back doing something my dad and I still like. Rhiannon Gelsolin, a champion co-driver who most recently drove on the right side of the car for Travis Pastrami, will be Block’s teammate in 2023. Alex, Gelsolin’s husband, has raced with Ken for a long time and is also one of his co-drivers. He and Lucy Block will both take part in American Rally Association events. Block first raced when he was 15. She drove her Ford Fiesta in seven races and got as high as third in her class. In 2023, she ran for the first time in a Subaru BRZ, which has rear-wheel drive. Block and Gelsolin were practicing rear-drive moves at the Dartfish rally school in Washington State, according to posts on social media. Derek Dance, in charge of the Block team, told Dirt Fish that it would be interesting to see how Lia’s natural speed works in the new car. Lia pays tribute to her famous father by recreating the snow camouflage and gold accent livery he first used on a Subaru WRX STI in 2005 for the season’s first race, the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri, which he won seven times. Even though his family and neighbors miss him, the name Block is still linked to racing.
