Lia Block will make a stunning return to American rallying with Subaru at next week’s Lake Superior Performance Rally.
On the day Block celebrates her 18th birthday, Subaru Motorsports USA announced she will drive Brandon Semenuk’s ARA title-winning WRX at the final round of the season in Michigan. The now three-time consecutive American champion, who wrapped up this year’s title at last month’s Overmountain Rally, will compete at the Red Bull Rampage mountain bike event in Utah.
Her family name will come full circle with Subaru after her father Ken spent the formative years of his rally career aboard an Impreza and returned to the brand for a single season in one of the Vermont SportsCar-built machines in 2021.
My family and I have such a special history with this team, I wouldn’t want this milestone to be with anyone elseLia Block
Block, who will be co-driven by Semenuk’s regular navigator Keaton Williams, said: “Excited is an understatement for the feeling going into LSPR. Subaru and Vermont SportsCar have given me such as cool opportunity to compete at a rally in their top-level racecar.”
It was at LSPR 12 months ago that Block made her four-wheel drive rally debut, driving Ken’s Ford Escort RS Cosworth after she clinched the ARA O2WD title Subaru BRZ on the penultimate round – becoming the youngest ever ARA title winner in the process.
“Rally has always been my home. It’s my roots,” Block added. “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 will share the Subaru team with her father’s former team-mate and ARA rival Travis Pastrana and, while she’s in a car which has dominated US rallying, her ambitions for LSPR are modest.
No stranger to DirtFish, Lia starred at our inaugural DirtFish Women in Motorsport Summit in 2022 alongsid her mother Lucy
“My goal for this upcoming weekend,” she said, “is to have fun, go fast, and finish the rally strong and comfortable.”
While the emphasis of Block’s career shifted to circuit racing – and the F1 Academy with Williams Driver Academy – at the top of this season, she has maintained an off-road presence, finishing sixth at September’s opening races of this year’s Nitrocross Championship in a Dodge Hornet.
