This weekend Leah Block, daughter of Ken Block, the famous American racing driver and stunt show host Gymkhana, will make her debut in the Extreme E electric off-road series this weekend.
Lia joins the British Carl Cox Motorsport team, driving the Odyssey 21 electric off-road vehicle alongside Timo Scheider, a German racing driver, two-time DTM champion and rallycross master. Her baptism of fire in Extreme E will take place on the podium next weekend, which will be held on the Italian island of Sardinia.
The American driver from Florida is only 16 years old, but following in her father’s footsteps, she has already gained a lot of experience in rally, rallycross and off-road competitions and started her racing career in karting.
Lea Block: “I’m excited about my upcoming Extreme E debut at the upcoming Sardinia event. Playing for the Carl Cox Motorsport team opens up great opportunities for me and I already want to get behind the wheel and explore the track as soon as possible. I am ready to do everything in my power to help the team and show a good result.
I can’t wait to work with Timo, who I’ve known for many years, and the rest of the team. This will be my first race outside the US and it will be my first time competing against many real motorsport stars, but I am up for the challenge.”
Carl Cox, Founder and Team Principal: “We have been following Leah’s career for some time now and she shows great potential behind the wheel of race cars. Before the stage in Sardinia, the opportunity arose to sign a contract with her, and we were delighted to invite her to the team – let’s see how she can cope with the task and become Timo’s partner.
She has already been trained by Extreme E masters like Tanner Faust and Andreas Backerud, so she is learning from the best riders and really wants to show her best side.”
At the previous round of the series, held in Scotland in May, Carl Cox’s team reached the podium for the first time and are now 8th in this growing series, which includes the teams of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
Leah Block becomes the youngest rider ever to start the Extreme E stages – before her it was her compatriot Amanda Sorensen, who made her debut in the off-road series at the age of 20.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
