The Goodwood Festival of Speed features cars and drivers from every period of motor sport – including the latest and greatest stars from the FIA World Rallycross Championship.

Ken Block – renowned rally and gymkhana driver who races in the 2016 World Rallycross Championship, has been wowing the crowds this weekend in a striking Ford RX car. In an event that features some of the oldest cars on the planet, the spectacular sights and sounds of  Block drifting its way up the hill captured plenty of attention.

Speaking just before going on a run up the famous Goodwood hill climb, Block first gave a run-down of the rapid development process the team has undergone so far this season with its all-new Focus RS RX.

“I actually did my first test outside of a race weekend just a few days ago,” he said. “I did 28 laps of Lydden Hill. It really is a brand new car, so the fact that I was able to get onto the podium at Hockenheim and Andreas [Bakkerud] was able to win in Norway within only five races with the car is really cool. We know we have a good package – we just need to continue testing and refining it to make it more competitive.”

Putting the car in the context of the Festival of Speed was a privilege not lost on the American ace, and he continued, “For me I’ve been a stage rally fan since I was very fan, so to be over here and to drive up this course at Goodwood with the Group B cars and the amazing equipment is really cool for me. It’s awesome to come over here and represent where I come from in stage rally, rallycross and gymkhana and let all the fans see what it’s about.”

With such a stark contrast of old and new, Block sees World Rallycross as having a potential to truly ride the wave of the digital media revolution, and concluded:

“I think the FIA and motor sport in general is in an interesting place right now. Social media exposure is really starting to influence the way kids see things, there’s just so much information at your fingertips which is making the role of any sport quite different.

“It’s great to see rallycross having such success because I think it really fits into that mentality of seeing lots of short bursts of information rather than something like a three-hour race which is really forever for some of these kids. Rallycross really delivers in that way – it fits the direction that media and the consumption of media is going.

“I’m stoked to be involved in that, and it’s great for the FIA to be involved too. I hope it keeps growing bigger and bigger and that we can maybe one day see it challenge the likes of F1 in terms of following. I really think it has the potential. I’m a big F1 fan, but I’m from a rallying and rallycross background, and I’d like to see this new world championship grow firstly to the size of stage rally, and then maybe even to the size of F1.”