Lia Block, 18, and navigator Keaton Williams survived a high-speed crash in the 10th stage of the American Rally Association Lake Superior Performance Rally on Saturday. Block and Williams emerged from the crash uninjured.
Block was driving the Subaru Motorsports USA car in which Brandon Semenuk had already clinched the ARA Championship for the third consecutive time.
Click here for a video of the crash and it’s aftermath
Block’s crash came in the first stage of the second day of the event after successfully completing nine stages on Day 1 incident-free.
“First stage; It’s going great,” Block said after the crash. “Keaton says I wasn’t over-pushing, right Keaton? No over-pushing”
“It wasn’t out of control,” Keaton answered.
“We had no moments and I think we just came into this braking zone quite loose and just locked up in the beginning and got offline and somehow we ended up sideways in between two trees.
“The car is basically fine. If there wasn’t a tree right there, we would just push it over and keep going.”
Lia Block's Subaru debut is over ❌
— DirtFish (@DirtFishRally) October 12, 2024
She's crashed out on stage 10 of Lake Superior Performance Rally 🫣 Crew OK ✅ @ARA_Rally pic.twitter.com/3ci7LINPSk
The 2024 rally was won by Block’s teammate Travis Pastrana, who returned to the series this season. Pastrana was Lia’s father, Ken Block’s teammate when they became viral stars of Gymkhana films legend.
“Rally has always been my home; it’s my roots,” Lia said when it was announced she would drive this car. “My family and I have such a special history with this team. I wouldn’t want this milestone to be with anyone else. It’s been a while since I’ve competed in a rally car, but I’m looking forward to the challenge of learning my way around this insanely fast, top-level car.”
Block was entered in last year’s LSPR driving for her family team, Block House Racing, but retired with mechanical issues. Semenuk was the winner of this rally last year.
