Ken Block’s long awaited Part I of his Gymkhana 3 automotive acrobatics video is set to drop on Tuesday, much to the delight of drooling fanboys and Rally enthusiasts everywhere.

The third Gymkhana video will be the first Gymkhana where his Ford Fiesta will feature as the star car, rather than Block’s previous Subaru Impreza WRX STI hatchbacks. Block’s alliance with Ford, as well as his rising profile in XGames rally, should mean that the newest Gymkhana video will be the most elaborate yet. So far, Block has only released this teaser image, but in a mere 24 hours, we can expect all manner of controlled sliding and heavily edited driving shenanigans.

[Source: Inside Line]

Subaru has teamed up with famed rally car builder Vermont SportsCar to prepare two rally cars for their X-Games drivers, Travis Pastrana, Dave Mirra and Sverre Isachsen.

Starting with a 2011 WRX STI, the Vermont SportsCar crew stripped everything out of the interior and did the requisite rollcage and seam welding jobs needed to make the car rigid enough to endure the stresses of rallying. A fire suppression system and fuel cell were also installed, as were EXE-TC coilovers.

Power is rated at 500 horsepower, an incredible figure from the 2.5L flat-four engine. The engine also makes 560lb-ft of torque, enough to alter the earth’s rotation, and that’s with a special restrictor plate fitted. And of course, it wouldn’t be a rally car with an ear-drum-shattering anti-lag system fitted.

With a new event called SuperRally coming to this XGames, Subaru needs to have its baddest rally car yet to fend off the challengers – SuperRally features four cars competing at the same time, and you can bet the Ford’s Fiesta, as well as a multitude of others, will be out for blood.

[Source: Subaru]

Hit the jump to read the official press release

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Now that Ford has wrestled Ken Block away from the clutches of Subaru, the company is looking to leverage their alliance with the internet superstar beyond their collaboration with the new Fiesta and the upcoming rally car based off the compact hatchback.

In an interview with radio station KROQ, Block was asked about a special edition Fiesta named after him, DC Shoes or one of his other sponsors. Block was only willing to give the standard “We’re discussing those types of things but there’s nothing set in stone at this point,” answer, but it would be foolish of Ford not to leverage his high profile and large fanbase.

With Block already an “internet celebrity”, and the web being a crucial component of the Fiestas marketing campaign, don’t be surprised if the new model shows up in another installment of the Gymkhana videos.

[Source: KROQ]

To build hype for the upcoming Rally Finland, reigning WRC Champions Citroen have released ten of their best “big-air” photos from this year’s rallies in Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. Having attended a few rallies ourselves, we know a thing or two about getting big air in a car, and we like it. The photos show Citroen’s star driver, Sebastian Loeb, and others catching big air as they push their C4 Rally cars to the absolute limit.

Loeb said, of his massive, 85-meter jump in Turkey, “It was an incredible sensation as we were up in the air for several seconds. Not for a moment did we imagine that we would jump so far.”

Hit the jump (no pun intended) for all ten big-air shots.

[Source: World Car Fans]

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With the demise of Mitsubishi’s Dakar rally program, Volkswagen has stepped in to fill the void left by the iconic Pajero rally truck. The Race Touraeg has performed admirably, but Volkswagen driver Carlos Sainz demanded that the Race Touraeg 3 be a significant step forward from previous iterations.

While the Race Touraeg 2 was mechanically sound, the third generation car will sport serious improvements to the aerodynamics. Spy photos taken in the Alps show the car looking downright mean when devoid of any sponsorship liveries, but we’re at a loss to explain what any of the aesthetic details also double as aerodynamics aides.

The Race Touraeg 3 is expected to make its competition debut in the Silk Way Rally in Russia starting in September, 2010, after which it will enter the Dakar rally in January.

Hit the jump to see the full press release

[Source: Autoblog]

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The RMR Hyundai Genesis PM580 is about as far removed from a Hyundai Genesis as you can get, but its still pretty damn cool. With a tube frame steel chassis, an active differential and a 650-horsepower 4.1L V6 – all with a curb weight of under 1,900 lbs - the PM580 is a serious machine, and one that you will never ever see on the road. If you’re not going to Pikes Peak, check out the gallery below and take in how badass this one-off racer really is.

Gallery: RMR Hyundai Genesis PM580

Mikko Hirvonen has done an admirable job in WRC. Despite never winning a championship, Hirvonen has stepped into the shoes of legendary driver Marcus Gronholm as Ford’s new factory driver, regularly battling the reigning champion, Sebastian Loeb.

When Hirvonen isn’t flinging the Ford Focus WRC car through various rally stages, he can be found driving the new Focus RS500 special edition on the Nurburgring, as shown in these two Ford promotional videos. The first clip shows Hirvonen driving the RS500 at a relaxed pace through some German B-roads, and giving his driving impressions of the car. The second clip shows the car being driven by Hirvonen on the Nurburgring.

Both videos show off the car’s incredible 5-cylinder soundtrack, and the RS500 looks especially mean in its all black livery. We really wish there was some way to help us understand how the car handles, because 350-horsepower through the front wheels is likely something that must be experienced rather than explained.

[Source: Ford of Europe]

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Rally driving requires serious concentration on both the part of the driver and co-driver. If the co-driver reads stage notes wrong, or a driver doesn’t react quickly, a crash and possible rollover is almost a given. Many seasoned rally drivers have trained themselves to ignore the spectators along the sides of the stage, but one man distracts Mark Tapper in his prepared Mitsubishi Lancer in a most interesting way, by showing him his ass. The distraction is enough for Tapper to overshoot the next corner during the Rally New Zealand race and end up on his roof. Amazing video after the jump.

[Source: Jalopnik]

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Ken Block might not be driving for Subaru any more, but he’s still sponsored by Monster Energy Drink and is still up to his old tricks. Ahead of its debut later today, Ken Block’s Ford Fiesta Monster Rally Team has released a teaser of Gymkhana Three – featuring the new Ford Fiesta rally car. The clip doesn’t show much and frankly were half worried the full video won’t live up to the hype. In fact, we’re pretty sure it might flop, just because the whole Gymkhana thing is a little overdone right now.

Still, we look forward to being wrong and to enjoying some automotive acrobatics.

The video is set to make its debut at 8 p.m. on the West Coast.

See after the jump for the teaser video, plus Block’s past Gymkhana stunts:

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Above is one of the first images of a very mean looking Ford Fiesta that rally car driver and stunt man Ken Block will pilot in the 2010 Rally America Championship. Powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder and putting power to the ground using all four wheels, this custom built rally car is built by Swedish race shop Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution – the very same outfit that Ford’s Pikes Peak hillclimb cars, which were raced by the likes of Marcus Gronholm.

As is rather obvious from the car’s livery, Block continues to be sponsored by Monster Energy Drink.

Block has also signed on with Ford to race a Ford Focus rally car in the WRC (World Rally Championship) series overseas.

Block will debut his new Fiesta rally car this weekend at the Sno*Drift Rally Atlanta, MI.

GALLERY: Ken Block Ford Fiesta Rally Car

See after the jump for video of Ken Blocks’s new Ford Fiesta rally car:

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In an attempt to drum-up interest in the launch of the Fiesta in North America, Ford is putting on a serious publicity stunt by running two 800 horsepower versions of the economy car in the legendary Pikes Peak race.

Ford is eager to appeal not just to econonomically-minded individuals with the Fiesta sub-compact, but also to enthusiasts as it attempts to set a Pike Peak record with a sub-10 minute run up the mountain.

To do this not only will Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution race team owner Andreas Eriksson be piloting one of the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder Fiesta racers, but so will rally legend Marcus Grönholm. In World Rally Championship competition Grönholm has won 30 races and clinched the championship twice. 

Both Eriksson and Grönholm will certainly need all 800 horses when they take on the 12.4-mile, 156-turn dirt and tarmac climb on July 19th.

“We’re pleased to have a top independent team like Olsbergs MSE coming to the U.S. with their Fiesta Rallycross cars to take on the challenge of Pike’s Peak,” said Brian Wolfe, director, Ford North America Motorsports. “This will be a great chance for enthusiasts here to see in this unique setting what a lot of the rest of the world is already talking about – that the Fiesta is a great road car and a great race car.”

Ford Motor Company’s director of Global Motorsport Business Development, Jost Capito, said: “The Pike’s Peak event is another step forward for the new Ford Fiesta as a core vehicle in Ford’s future global motorsport aspirations. We’re looking forward to seeing Andreas and Marcus in action on this unique event.”

GALLERY: Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution Ford Fiesta Rallycross

Official release after the jump:

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Suzuki WRC fans have something to cheer about for the first time in four months. Yes, it’s been that long since the Japanese automaker announced it would with draw from the World Rally Championship, but now it seems they may already be planning a return.

RallyBuzz is reporting that Urmo Aava, who raced five seasons for the Suzuki team in the Junion World Rally Championship (JWRC), told the Estonian news website Postimees that Suzuki is building a new car and will “probably do a full WRC programme,” in 2011.

Aava made the comments while testing a Suzuki Swift S1600 rally car for the company’s JWRC team.

According to Aava, the new car is an S2000 spec vehicle, in keeping with the new “no-turbo” rules and while Suzuki has made no official comment since pulling out of WRC, comments were made earlier that Suzuki intended to race an SX4-based vehicle in the S2000 class.

[Source: RallyBuzz]

GALLERY: Suzuki SX4 WRC