Lucy Block announced she will enter the 2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 25 in Colorado Springs, Colorado in honor of her late husband Ken Block as a tribute following his untimely death in a snowmobiling accident in January.
The climb will be made in partnership with Sierra Cars and Hypercraft.
Lucy Block will honor her late husband Ken Block with a pass up the mountain in this year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb. – Lucy Block Racing
“My biggest accomplishments have always been being a mother to my kids and a strong, supportive wife,” Block said in a press release. “Being given the opportunity to drive to the summit for Ken at Pikes Peak is an honor. He gave so much to the action sports community. Driving Pikes Peak International Hill Climb gives us a way to carry Ken’s spirit forward and do something he was excited to do himself. We are eager to be able to use this opportunity to create awareness around 43 Institute, and celebrate my husband’s love for motorsports and innovation.”
Lucy will compete in the Unlimited Class for the first time, piloting a Sierra Echo EV powered by a Hypercraft electric drive system.
Also driving this year will be Ken’s daughter Lia Block, 16, as she continues her career as a rally driver. Lia will drive the same pink Porsche 911 “Hoonipigasus” in which Ken hoped to set a record last year. His attempt was thwarted by engine failure. Lia’s pass up the mountain will be an untimed, exhibition run.
“We are so honored to take part in this year’s PPIHC with the Block family,” said Sierra Cars Founder Cole Powelson. “Shortly after Ken’s passing, I was speaking with Lucy and realized how important it was to her that she remains in motorsports with her family. Getting Lucy involved at Pikes Peak seemed like the place where we could make the most positive impact.
“Standing on the summit of Pikes Peak on race day is one of the greatest pleasures I’ve ever known. To be able to share that with Lucy and Lia is the thing I’m looking forward to most this year.”
Powelson is also a professional racecar driver who brought this skill to the development of the chassis.
The specially designed Sierra Echo EV is suitable for all conditions from sand to pavement. – Lucy Block Racing
The Sierra Echo EV features a single-seat chassis built from tubular steel. Its rally-inspired steering, suspension and braking makes it suitable for all conditions, from sand to ice and asphalt.
“EVs are very well-suited for Pikes Peak, because they don’t suffer a loss in power due to altitude, like gas-powered vehicles,” Powelson said.
The Hill Climb will also serve as a fund-raising event for the Block family’s non-profit 43 Institute. A portion of proceeds from the sale of seven “Block Edition” cars will go toward this mission, with the goal of raising $43,000. The cars will be liveried the same as Lucy’s climb car and will be signed by members of the Block family.
The 43 Institute was created to offer paths of opportunity for the exceptionally driven who may lack the proper support system for growth and success, Individual donations can be made at 43i.org.
It was not the first time it has been done, but a rider winning in his Motocross debut is rare as the results show Jett Lawrence swept the motos at Fox Raceway in Pala, California and took the early points lead.Dylan Ferrandis may not be quite 100 percent yet, but he was good enough to finish on the podium at Fox Raceway – Align Media
Lawrence became the 16th rider to win in his Motocross debut and was the 10th rider to do so in the season opener, At 19, he wasn’t the youngest to perform the feat; Rick Johnson was 17 in 1982 when he won the lidlifter at Hangtown, the site of next week’s race, but Lawrence’s inaugural win bodes well. The last time a rider performed this feat, Dylan Ferrandis went on to win the 2021 Motocross championship as a rookie in 2021.
Ferrandis did not sweep the motos that season while Lawrence’s performance on Saturday was perfect. He paced both practice sessions, earned the holeshot in each race and finished first in both motos after leading every lap to score maximum points. Lawrence started the weekend needing 85 points to climb into 20th in the combined SuperMotocross standings for the 450 class. Earning 50 with his perfect Motocross results at Fox Raceway, he is nearly 60 percent of the way to his goal.
Chase Sexton was second across the board. He qualified in the second position and finished 2-2 in his motos. In the first race, he was a relatively distant runner-up behind Lawrence, crossing the finish line a little more than 10 seconds ahead. He got a great start in Moto 2 and pushed Lawrence for the entire race, never getting further back than three seconds. He tried to pressure Lawrence into making a mistake, but both riders hardly put a wheel wrong and they finished within a second of one another.
Returning from a concussion suffered in the Houston Supercross race earlier this season and exacerbated at Daytona, Ferrandis finished third in both motos to take third overall. His most important task at hand this week was to avoid trouble and start the Motocross season healthy at Fox Raceway so he can begin to accumulate strong results and move up in SuperMotocross points.
Ferrandis entered this round 25th in the standings and left Pala in 19th. With that position, he has an automatic invitation to the feature starting grid in the SuperMotocross World Championship as long as he does not fall back.
Aaron Plessinger and Cooper Webb both ended the race with 34 points, but Plessinger had the tiebreaker with a better finish in the second race. Notably, both riders sustained injury sometime during the season, but Plessinger had an advantage by coming back a week sooner in Salt Lak City for the Supercross finale. He finished second in that race.
Webb was cleared late in the week by doctors after being on concussion protocol from a vicious strike to his helmet in a Nashville Supercross heat race late in the season. He made a beeline to the track to run the Motocross opener. After missing last year’s outdoor season, he wanted to make certain that did not happen again. He still has a solid opportunity to catch Sexton for the No. 1 overall seed in the SuperMotocross standings., but he will need to make up 78 points.
For the first time in history, Pro Motocross results from Fox Raceway show brothers as winners on the same day.
Battling a rib injury suffered practicing earlier in the week, Hunter Lawrence got a poor start to Moto 1 and had to overcome his 10th-place standing at the end of Lap 1. He methodically worked his way toward the front but might have settled for a position off the podium if not for heavy traffic in the closing laps. Lawrence was able to get through the field quicker than Justin Cooper and Jo Shimoda to finish third.
Hunter Lawrence overcame sore ribs to score the overall 250 win at Fox Raceway – Align Media
Lawrence’s second moto was much stronger. He earned the holeshot and led all 15 laps of the race to win by a more than eight seconds.
Haiden Deegan didn’t feel any pressure heading into this round. No one expected much in his third Motocross National and he would have been happy with anything in the top five. At least that’s what he said in the post-race news conference. Deegan said similar things after finishing fourth in his first Supercross race this season. In a stacked field of 40 riders at Fox Raceway, “Danger Boy” finished sixth in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2 for the second-place finish overall.
In only his third Pro Motocross National, Haiden Deegan finished second overall. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire had an eventful weekend. He dominated Moto 1 and won by a healthy margin, making a statement about how he will race now that Jett Lawrence is no longer in the field. He was a victim of mayhem in Turn 2 of Moto 2, which forced him to the ground. Another crash on an uphill portion of the track later that same lap put him in 39th. Hampshire salvaged as many points as he could and finished 11th in the second race to stand on the final box of the podium.
Tom Vialle came within a lap of scoring his first career podium. He had the position based on a tiebreaker over Justin Cooper and Maximus Vohland until Hampshire passed two riders on the final lap and earned one point more than that threesome. Instead, Vialle settled for his first podium in an individual moto with a 7-3 in the two races. More accustomed to this style of racing, Vialle will be a factor in the coming rounds.
Cooper finished with a 5-4 in the two motos to sweep the top five and take fourth-place overall. Cooper started five rounds in the 450 class in Supercross this season and none on a 250, so he is starting with zero points in the SuperMotocross seeding, but with runs like this it won’t take long to make up the 89 he needs to climb to 20th.
One of the best performances of the weekend was put in by Vohland. He finished second in Moto 1 and had to withstand pressure from Lawrence in the closing lap. A poor start of 16th in the second race forced him to play catchup and he could only climb to ninth at the checkers.
