Lia is keeping the family business alive.
Lia Block, the highly talented daughter of the late Ken Block, will race a Subaru BRZ with a special livery paying tribute to her father and his first livery in the 2023 American Rally Association (ARA) season.
“This year is going to be a tough one,” wrote Block in an Instagram post. “But I'm happy to be back doing what my dad loved and what I still love […] The snow-camo and gold design is an homage to my dad's very first livery he created back in 2005. It was also the livery that he ran in the Gumball 3000 that same year.”
Block's first outing in the BRZ will be at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Salem, Missouri, this weekend. The 2013 model was modified to compete in the open two-wheel-drive class, which will be an entirely new experience for Lia. She previously competed in the same class but with a front-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta. Hopefully, she picked up some tricks about RWD car control from her dad (we know she did).
Motorsport's international governing body, the FIA, retired the number 43 earlier this year, making it one of only two numbers ever retired by the global motorsports body (albeit only for the 2023 season in the case of Block's number). The first was Jules Bianchi's number 17. That means the total of numbers racers are not allowed to use is actually three, as only the reigning world champion is allowed to use the number 1.
“The shockwaves of Ken's passing were seismic,” said Jeremy Meyer, ARA Business and Marketing Director. “As with everyone else, we worked through the grief of losing Ken, and when the time was right, we began discussions with the Block family on how to honor him. That begins with retiring the 43, with only the family being able to use it from now on.”
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As you might have noticed, Lia's racing number for the upcoming rally is 857. The element of her father's original livery that promoted the company Ken owned at the time, DC Shoes, has been updated for the Block family's current marketing tie-in with Hoonigan, which Ken also founded alongside Brian Scotto.
Travis Pastrana, who has taken over the Gymkhana film series pioneered by Ken Block, also paid tribute to Ken's original livery with a racecar he revealed earlier this year. Meanwhile, Ford Performance is paying its respects by proudly displaying a unique tribute decal on all its racecars this season.
Ken Block will be missed, but we're happy to see that the people whose lives he touched are keeping his legacy alive, doing the sort of mesmerizing motoring he helped to trailblaze.
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Keyword: Lia Block Will Race A Subaru BRZ With Ken Block-Inspired Livery To Honor Her Dad