[abisson]

"Even with a skill set as specific as vehicular control, there are polar opposites. At one end you have F1 drivers, who position what essentially amount to fighter jets on wheels with pin-point precision. At the other end sits the likes of Ken Block, the Gymkhana master who has wowed us all time and again by drifting his rally car sideways through the tightest of spots and in the grandest of fashion. The two may seem entirely irreconcilable, but they're about to come together for what promises to be an interesting crossover.

While visiting Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix, it was announced that Block is headed for his first drive in an F1 car this August. But rather than test, as many others have, for a specific team, Block will be the invited guest of Pirelli – the company that supplies the tires both for his rally car and for the entire F1 grid.

The drive will take place at Monza – the legendary home of the Italian Grand Prix – on August 5th. There, Block will take to the wheel of the TF109, the car which Toyota fielded in the 2009 championship before withdrawing from the series altogether, and which Pirelli now uses to test its various F1 rubber compounds.

Block says this test will "take hooning to a whole new level." Are we smelling an F1 Gymkhana video in the making? Too early to say, but we can certainly dream. Official announcement after the jump. "

Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/13/k...test-at-monza/


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I hope he doesn't think he will be able to race for F1 one day... He is good, but I mean, F1 good?!

[Crimson92]

good luck to him.

hes a crazy mofo, but damn he can drive.

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by Crimson92

good luck to him.

hes a crazy mofo, but damn he can drive.

On set courses that involves him doing drifts and loops...yes.

On an actual rally course...he sucks and is always at the bottom

[ADV.1 Matt]

Saw him talking to shumi during the rain delay... interesting they're putting him into an F1 car. Then again, Mr. Brundle mentioned during the broadcast he's going to drive the pirelli test car as well so apparently it's not a specific test just for mr. block.

[TK-421]

... Block? Really?? People who have only seen him on YouTube and Top Gear will looooove this

[KANdaddy]

ghey. looking forward to him making a fool of himself.

[escobar929]

yea, think its more of a media thing than an actual test. He's a great drifter but not the fastest driver

[Harpinc]

That's funny..
He is in no way a top caliber RR driver.. Great drifter etc.. but.. we'll see.

[fourtailpipes]

travis pastrana will be doing a double-pits-to-chesty flying over him on a hayabusa into a large foam pit. this concludes ken block's F1 "debut".

do you think his DC shoes will fit into the narrow F1 pedalbox?

[Robin_NL]

Originally Posted by Crimson92

good luck to him.

hes a crazy mofo, but damn he can drive.

The results in the WRC are horible + a lot of crashes. Nice guy but not a real talent compared to the other ones. Sorry, reality bites.

[ianbiz]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

On set courses that involves him doing drifts and loops...yes.

On an actual rally course...he sucks and is always at the bottom

this.

[pixelblue]

He got mad skills but let's not forget his drifting videos are highly choreographed and edited

[xerox445]

FIA is never going to let him race during a real event. He would be a saftey hazzard to the other drivers on the track, due to lack of skill. This is a PR ploy.

[Bakeme521]

The guy can drive but no where near at the level of an F1 driver, should be interesting to watch. This video shows just how hard it is to drive an F1 car when Richard Hammond got the opportunity to drive one. I'm sure most of you have seen it though, oh well it's still good to see.

[Harpinc]

Richard Hammond is also NOT what I would call a race driver.. He gets to drive a bunch of cool cars, that's about it. Until someone has competed with success in racing I don't consider them a racing driver. Kinda like a friend of mine who is a Porsche Club driving instructor thinking he was basically a race driver.. NOT!!

[fourtailpipes]

Originally Posted by Harpinc

Richard Hammond is also NOT what I would call a race driver.. He gets to drive a bunch of cool cars, that's about it. Until someone has competed with success in racing I don't consider them a racing driver. Kinda like a friend of mine who is a Porsche Club driving instructor thinking he was basically a race driver.. NOT!!

hah! yea i've heard that before. there's a lot of "i'm a driving instructor" hubris running around. all it proves is we've been to the track a bunch of times, and didn't crash or say anything TOO stupid on the ITS day. yawn.

i'd say ken block is a valid racing driver (though perhaps not a standout). hamster is anything but. i love the guy, but a career in radio and a bunch of seat time in cool cars does not a racing driver make.

[Impervious]

Highly doubt Ken Block will be successful driving an F1 car. I love his videos but piloting an F1 car is a totally different ball game.

I also think people give Block a little too much credit. His beloved videos are cool as hell but they've been edited to pieces and have been done with numerous takes. Despite this many people assume he's above and beyond other drivers while I believe he's just average. It's obvious when watching him drive in rallies. He's good but nothing special in the world of professional motorsports.