Ford had high hopes going into the 2011 World Rally Championship, and with good reason. Having recently put together a rally racing dream team that includes some of the top U.S. and European drivers, the new WRC Fiesta was looking like it could be the car to beat after its 1-2-3 finish at Rally Sweden. But before the rally even started, Ford was down one of its newest drivers, the venerable Ken Block, and it was Citreon, not Ford who the top two podium spots at Rally Portugal.
The horrendous crash sent Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino into the air in their WRC Fiesta that saw the car flip at least five times before coming down with a hard crash. The incident happened last Wednesday during the shakedown prior to this weekend’s Rally Portugal. Block was about two kilometers into the five kilometer course when the accident happened, and both drivers were rushed to a nearby hospital. Neither of them suffered serious injury, but it’s safe to say that the WRC Fiesta might be out of the running for a while.
Rally Portugal came to a close yesterday, with French-carmaker Citroen taking first and second place over the Ford Abu Dhabi Rally Team, which placed third. Other Ford’s faced mechanical problems, such as a broken driveshaft for Mikko Hirvonen’s WRC Fiesta, though he still managed to finish in fourth. With another race behind them though, the Ford drivers remain locked in a battle for first place. We’re still hoping to see Mr. Block put in a top time, but after last week’s crash we guess he needs a bit more time behind the wheel. We have faith though that Block will put some of those Gymkhana skills to good work at the next WRC race.
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