Lia Block is focused on securing her future in rallying after missing out on the American Rally Association title on the final stage of the season.
Lying third overall with rival Seth Quintero second, 20-year-old Block only needed to finish fourth on the Lake Superior Performance Rally powerstage to become the first woman in history to claim the American national title.
However a double puncture on the final, points-paying stage meant Block finished just two points shy of Toyota driver Quintero, who was competing in his first season of rallying alongside his World Rally-Raid Championship program.
Appearing on DirtFish’s weekly rallying podcast, SPIN, The Rally Pod, Block told host Josie Rimmer that final stage heartache is “gonna sting for a long time” but won’t let it define her entire season, where she also became the first woman to win an ARA National round.
“I’m always that person that’s like, OK, I can’t change anything, let’s go forward,” said Block.
“I think I still need a little bit of reflection to truly understand what I’ve accomplished this year and not to let what happened at the end of the season overshadow everything that I have accomplished and, you know, the history that we’ve made as a team and everything.
“It’s been really awesome. This year was about showing what I really can do and, you know, gaining that respect again within the rally world after being out of it for two years [racing in F1 Academy].
“Hopefully I’ve opened doors because that’s what I need. I don’t have the money to go and do the same again next year. I’m hoping that what I’ve accomplished this year, and the pace that I have shown, will open those doors and, going forward, hopefully I’ll have bigger opportunities.
“That’s what we’re working towards right now.”
Losing respectfully
Block also opened up on what exactly happened on that powerstage, and how she dealt with the raw emotion afterwards.
“It was the third run of the stage,” she explained. “There were huge ruts, lots of exposed rocks that you normally wouldn’t see in LSPR, which is interesting because it was so dry this year that the road broke down so fast, and it’s like nothing we’ve seen before at that rally.
Block (right) lost the title to Quintero (right) by just two points
“So it was nothing I did. There was just some exposed bedrock on the line in a corner. If I’d done it again, I don’t know if I would have done it differently at all. I hit it somewhat wrong and somehow, you know, we got the double puncture.
“This is halfway through the stage, and the rear one went first, then the front went a maybe a mile or so down the stage. At that point, I’m just thinking: I need to get this to the end of the stage.
“I’m struggling turning right because I’m literally on the rims. so I’m just digging the ground. But interestingly enough, we were pushing hard still. I’ve seen the onboard and we hit 90mph on two wheels trying to get to the end of the stage. It’s rally after all, you can’t just give up. You have to get the end of the stage, right? Anything can happen. And literally…
“We got to the end but unfortunately with such a fast rally like that, it’s just not enough. Like I knew it from the finish board that it just wasn’t gonna be enough. It hurt.
“But thankfully we were able to make it to the finish. Patrick [Gruszka] gave us one of his spares because we were only carrying one for that rally given there’s not much of a risk for punctures unless you really make a mistake and go off. So it was super, super nice of him to help us.”
Block confessed she “didn’t know what to think” after she’d watched the championship slip from her grasp, but she was determined not to come across as a sore loser.
“I wish we got that fairytale ending with everything we went through this year, but that was it. And I had to go put on a brave face, stand on a podium and act like I wasn’t dying.
“The worst thing would be for me to like make a big deal about it, you know? I’m going to lose and I’m going to lose respectfully.”
You can listen to the full episode with Lia Block now wherever you get your podcasts. For an ad-free listening experience, join Club DirtFish.
