In driving for Subaru Motorsports USA at this weekend’s Lake Superior Performance Rally, Lia Block has the chance to repeat what her late father, Ken, did.
That will only heighten what would already otherwise have been a very special opportunity.
But Lia is not the first driver to drive for the same team as her dad. It even happened in the World Rally Championship!
So as the 18-year-old prepares for her big chance, let’s look back at some other families where parent and child have competed for the same manufacturer.
Malcolm & Matthew Wilson
Wilson Jr finished fourth in a Ford Focus in Japan in 2007
Perhaps it’s one of the most famous, and obvious, examples given that Malcolm Wilson owns M-Sport and Matthew is a director and team principal of the rally raid outfit.
But Malcolm never drove for his own team in the WRC, instead competing for Ford’s in-house efforts in the 1990s in both a Sierra and Escort Cosworth before running Ford’s WRC program with M-Sport became his full-time occupation.
Matthew meanwhile completed six full seasons in a Ford in the WRC for the second-string Stobart team, peaking with two fourth place finishes in Japan 2007 and Australia 2011.
Petter & Oliver Solberg
Oliver Solberg spent a season in the Subaru colors with which his dad became world champion
Technically papa Solberg didn’t compete for the same team as Oliver, as he drove for the Subaru World Rally Team and Oliver for Subaru Motorsports USA.
But given the emotion stirred when Solberg contested the ARA for Subaru in 2019, the Solbergs had to make the list.
Oliver managed to win three rallies in a Subaru, but Petter’s time in blue and yellow was more famous. Controversially jumping ship from Ford midway through the 2000 season, the Norwegian’s move certainly paid off as he was world champion by 2003, won 13 world rallies and stayed with Subaru until it left the WRC in 2008.
Gwyndaf & Elfyn Evans
Evans father and son both represented Ford at the highest level
Although Elfyn has enjoyed a much more prosperous career at world level than his father Gwyndaf, there’s actually plenty of synergy in their respective rallying careers – not least winning the British title at the same rally (Ulster) exactly 20 years apart.
But crucially for this feature, both drove for Ford on the global stage.
During the same 1996 season where he won the British championship, Gwyndaf was handed a chance to drive an Escort RS Cosworth at Rally Indonesia – where he unfortunately retired.
Elfyn meanwhile got his big break with M-Sport Ford, making a one-off appearance in 2013 before two full seasons in 2014 and ’15. A brief step back to R5 machinery preceded three more seasons from 2017-19 when Elfyn was able to claim his first WRC win.
Harri & Kalle Rovanperä
Not the last time we'd see a Rovanperä driving a Škoda with Red Bull backing
We’re cheating a little bit here, as the two Rovanperäs didn’t both compete for a fully works Škoda team. Harri instead drove for Red Bull Škoda which effectively became Škoda’s works program – rather like Toksport in WRC2 today – after it left the WRC for 2006.
Kalle meanwhile drove a factory Fabia R5 and Rally2 evo in 2018 and 2019 as he built up to his Toyota drive in the main class.
Of the pair, Kalle was more successful as he grabbed a WRC2 Pro title in 2019 but was at the exact opposite point of his career to his father when he drove for Škoda. While Kalle was on the rise, Harri was winding down in what would prove to be his final season in the world championship.
Neal & Harry/Lewis Bates
The Bates family has a long relationship with Toyota
In similar fashion to Malcolm and Matthew Wilson at the top of this list, Neal Bates and his two sons, Harry and Lewis, have all represented Toyota for years under Neal’s eponymous Neal Bates Motorsport.
The squad has won each of the past four Australian titles (three for older brother Harry, one for Lewis) and Harry is odds-on to claim another championship this year in a GR Yaris Rally2.
Achieving that would equal his dad’s tally of four national championships, but Neal was also a regular in the WRC when it visited the Asia Pacific regions – even representing Toyota’s works team in a Corolla WRC at both Rally Indonesia and Australia in 1997.
Norihiko & Takamoto Katsuta
The older Katsuta played a key role in developing the GR Yaris Rally2
Takamoto Katsuta’s entire rallying career was made possible by Toyota, and that ultimately led to his father Norihiko switching to the brand over in Japan as well.
Norihiko, the 2008 Japanese champion, was a Subaru stalwart for years but has switched to a GR Yaris since 2021 – his son’s first near-full season in the WRC.
While Takamoto has been showing rally-winning pace in a GR Yaris Rally1, his dad was responsible for showcasing (and testing) the GR Yaris Rally2 Concept in Japan last season before driving the homologated car this campaign.
Markku & Anton Alén
The younger Alén's career peaked with victory in Russia
We’ve saved one of the most interesting entries until last, because the career of the great Markku Alén’s son, Anton, is easily forgotten at the best of times before you even consider how it married up with his dad’s.
While Markku came famously close to winning a drivers’ title but never did – taking the International Cup for Rally Drivers in 1978 (a year before the WRC officially introduced a drivers’ championship) and then claiming it in 1986 before a court ruling overturned the result two weeks later – Anton never really made an impression on the WRC with just seven starts in the late 2000s.
But it’s their periods with Fiat which the two Aléns share in common.
Markku won the aforementioned 1978 title in a 131 Abarth (as well as a Lancia Stratos), while Anton represented Abarth – Fiat’s performance arm – in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, steering a Grande Punto S2000.
He peaked with a win on 2007’s Rally Russia.
