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Kenneth Paul Block, or more affectionately known as Ken Block, was a legend in the world of Motorsport. Unfortunately, he passed away today after a fatal snowmobile accident at his ranch in Utah. For younger motorsport fans, he was a rallying god who would also ply his trade in other adventure sports, such as skateboarding and motocross, amongst others. Block’s most famous and revered machine was the Ford Focus RS RX, which has been immortalized in the world of sim racing since. But on this sad day, it is only fitting to reminisce about the time when the legendary Block went wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton!

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You could arguably put both Hamilton and Block in the same bracket when it comes to how inspirational and revolutionary they’ve been for motorsport fans globally. But the icing on the cake came way back in 2014.

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Digging through the archives, we came across an Instagram post made by Block in May 2014, “Hung out with this dude, @LewisHamilton again today at the Top Gear Festival here in Barbados. As you can see, we’re scheming about how to kill tires most effectively between his F1 car and my rallycross car.”

“Pretty dope to say that I spent some time hooning with the current Formula 1 points leader! More to come from our on track antics in some posts tomorrow morning.”

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Read More: Hamilton & Sargeant Joins Motorsport Community in Mourning Terrible Loss of Ken Block

Lewis Hamilton is arguably the GOAT of F1 racing. But just imagine Ken Block whizzing past the pit wall in the bona fide Formula 1 car? Now that would be something!

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The doomed Ken Block F1 test

The sight of Block pounding laps after laps in an F1 car would’ve been the ultimate dream for many motorsport fans. And it all came oh so close. However, due to this one bizarre reason, it could never really materialize into anything. Motorsport.com reported, “A car was sorted thanks to Pirelli having agreed on a deal with Toyota to use its two-year-old TF109 throughout 2011 to help its development work.”

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“Everything was firmed up, and Pirelli made the announcement of Block’s test at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he was enthused about the opportunity.” Alas, it wasn’t to be.

“While his 1.83 metres height was not a total obstacle, as many F1 drivers have been taller, his build and body shape – and especially the length of his legs – were much more of an issue. Although Block could sit inside the car to get below the roll-hoop requirements, in doing so his legs were positioned such that they blocked the movement of the steering wheel.”

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WATCH THIS STORY: Jeff Gordon’s throwback moment from the 90s

Rest in Peace, you legend!

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Written by

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Anirban Aly Mandal

1,126 Articles

Anirban Aly Mandal is a senior F1 writer at EssentiallySports, with over 1000 articles published on the platform. Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 while playing on his computer, and he has since then dived deep into the world of motorsports. Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports.

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Ranvijay Singh

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