Block restarts with 10-minute penalty

Ken Block will begin the opening day of Rally Guanajuato Mexico under SupeRally conditions and with a 10-minute time penalty for failing to start Thursday night’s street stage in Guanajuato.

The Monster World Rally Team star was lining up to tackle the 1.05-kilometre stage when a mystery electrical fault grounded his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

When efforts by Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino to rectify the problem proved unsuccessful, the American duo were unable to go any further and their Fiesta was transported back to the permanent service park for repairs.

However, despite an extensive overhaul of the Fiesta, Block’s engineers and mechanics won’t be able to determine the exact cause of the failure until the car is returned to its base in the UK next week.

“Ken will start today with a 10-minute penalty, which is clearly not satisfactory,” said Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson. “We spent four hours last night changing all the electrical components as a precaution but there are some electrical components we can’t bench test until we’re back in the UK so we’re still none the wiser as to what caused the car to stop. It’s frustrating and it’s certainly something we don’t want to be happening.”

Wilson said Block’s car encountered a mechanical issue heading back to service following Thursday morning’s shakedown, which was subsequently addressed.

Block said: “I realise this is a new car for everybody and I’m prepared there will be some mechanical issues that happen. I was hoping it wouldn’t be me but unfortunately it was me.”