25 Feb Ken Block Announces 100 Acre Wood Rally Entry and Cossie World Tour Details

Article originally written for American Rally Association website here.

Park City, Utah (February 25, 2019)

In a video announcement posted to his YouTube channel this morning, Ken Block and the Hoonigan team announced their plans for the 2019 rally season. Known as the Cossie World Tour, Block will embark on a global racing challenge while driving a Ford Escort Cosworth (The Cossie) in international competing starting with next month’s 100 Acre Wood Rally. 

The 100 Acre Wood Rally, held from March 15-16, is one of Block’s favorites. He has won the Missouri-based event more times than anyone else; earning 7 wins in 9 attempts. The storied rally is the only North American event currently on schedule for the Cossie World Tour. Other stops on the itinerary for the Hoonigan team are places like Ireland, New Zealand, San Marino, and England.

“I wanted to do all these rad events around the world,” said Block in the video. “To be able to do that all in one car makes it better for me as a driver to hop in one car and drive it, hopefully at its limit, everywhere I go.” 

In the 10 minute announcement, Block also reminisced about the the Group A Cossie he raced at the Oregon Trail Rally and New England Forest Rally last year. Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino drove the car to a third overall finish in Oregon while battling mechanical issues. At their next event, the car again suffered a mechanical issue, this time leading to an off which ignited a subsequent fire. While no injuries were sustained, the Cossie was a total loss. 

The fun that he had at last season’s ARA events and while filming personal projects like Gymkahana 10 motivated Block to build another Cossie. This time it won’t be a period-build race car; Block will build his own Ford Escort Cosworth using a modern design philosophy. More details on the build will come out in subsequent video announcements ahead of the 100 Acre Wood Rally. 

For more details on Block’s 2019 plans, check out the Hoonigan team’s announcement video below: