Lia Block says she has plenty more pace in her after finishing fourth on her Rally2 debut at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.
The 19-year-old won her first ever stage in the American Rally Association National Championship last weekend, switching from Rally3 to a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 alongside co-driver Alex Gelsomino.
She briefly led the event on Saturday morning but eventually came home fourth – just 3.1 seconds shy of the podium and 3.5s adrift of second place.
That result, coupled to fourth on the powerstage, earned her important points for the championship after she was excluded from the season-opening Sno*Drift Rally for outside assistance.
“Obviously this was my first ever rally in an RC2 car and it was really, really fun,” Block told DirtFish. “This is a really fast rally so it’s all about commitment and confidence.
“I’m a little bit disappointed right now because we were literally separated by three seconds to second, but honestly looking back on it, not being hard on myself, it was a great debut; awesome.
“I think we have a lot to build on and there’s a lot more time that we can salvage. And we finished – the first rally of the year I’ve finished.”
Although Block tested her PCRS-run Hyundai prior to 100 Acre Wood, nothing beats competition experience. The data, and onbaord videos, she garnered from round two will help her as she prepares for the Olympus Rally presented by DirtFish (April 17-19).
“There’s so much data and video we can go back over, so we can know exactly what we need to improve going into the next rally,” Block, who is carrying DirtFish Women in Motorsport stickers on her Hyundai for the entire 2026 season, explained.
“Obviously I’m still getting to know the car and the limitations, but we can go back to the drawing board and know what we need to change or what can stay the same. There’s definitely lots to uncover before the next rally.”
Block’s competition better be ready too, as she’s not planning on finishing behind them at future events.
“Obviously getting my first stage win in American rally is probably the biggest high ever, and by quite a bit of a margin. And the fact that this whole field is so tight, the top-five being separated within a couple of seconds to the end, I think that’s the first time we’ve seen in a long time in ARA,” she said.
“So I’m looking forward to the rest of the year and the competition being that tight, but I’m not going to let too many more people beat me!”
