A first victory for Ken Block and the Monster WRT

American action sports icon Ken Block and his Monster World Rally Team have scored their first victory in the Rally America series with a win for the Ford Fiesta at the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Missouri.

Ken Block proved the strength and reliability of his Monster Energy Drink Fiesta by winning the 2010 Rally America 100 Acre Wood Rally by 21-seconds over second place Antoine L’Estage. The win is the first for the Ford Fiesta in a North American Stage Rally and the first for Fiesta in Rally America competition. The win for Block was his fifth straight victory at the two-day 100 Acre Wood Rally.

"I can’t tell you how difficult and challenging this weekend has been," said Block. "This is the location of my first national rally win, so I have now won this rally five years in a row and it is a pretty good feeling to get the Fiesta home in first. The Fiesta is a big change from the car I was racing before, but I am finally starting to come to grips with how to drive it and how to go as fast as I can. It is very fun to drive and I am really enjoying the Fiesta."

Block started the second day over a minute behind the leader and in third place. Overnight changes to his Fiesta allowed Block to win three of the ten stages and overcome the deficit and secure victory.

“Two months ago this program did not exist and today Ken Block and the Monster World Rally Team have celebrated Ford Fiesta’s first Rally America victory. It has been nothing short of amazing to see Ken’s Fiesta program develop before our eyes,” said Jamie Allison, Ford Director of North America Motorsport.

"The Ford Fiesta is proving to be an incredibly competitive platform for rallying," said Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe’s Motorsport Manager. "Within the last six months Fiesta has won X Games gold in North America, our UK-based rally partner, M-Sport, took a Fiesta S2000 to victory on the 2010 Monte Carlo Rally and now Ken Block’s car has claimed its first stage rally win in the United States. What an incredible start for Fiesta!"

The two-litre turbocharged Monster Fiesta Rally America car is prepared by Swedish team Olsbergs Motorsports Evolution (OSME) and is based on the successful production-based Fiesta Rallycross car that competed in the FIA European Rallycross Championship in 2009. It was OSME that took a Fiesta Rallycross car to last year’s famous Pikes Peak hillclimb in the United States and two weeks later won the X Games event.

Block’s four-wheel drive Monster Fiesta Rally America car has been modified to comply with Rally America’s Open class regulations. It is fitted with a turbo restrictor to comply with championship regulations and produces around 330bhp (326PS).

But the Monster World Rally Team has precious little time to enjoy its victory as the team is moving on quickly to Mexico where Ken Block will make his FIA World Rally Championship debut for Ford in a Focus RS WRC.