A true drift legend 🏆
Back in 2015 the famous Need For Speed racing video franchise released a reboot title called Need For Speed. It featured many famous drivers from real life such as:
- Magnus Walker
- Ken Block
- Akira Nakai
- Shinichi Morohoshi
- The Risky Devil Street Team
Ken Block of the famed Hoonigan team quickly became my favorite of the featured drivers that were in the game due to the fact that he was the guy that focused on drifting. Drifting is by far my favorite part about NFS games. Ripping the handbrake to slide around corners as you feather the throttle and burn through your rubber is one of the most satisfying things in the driving world.
The NFS reboot featured many different drifting challenges, but the highest difficulty ones were the Gymkhanas. At the time I was brand new to the drifting scene, outside of what I had experienced in previous video games. I had no idea what a Gymkhana was, I assumed it was just some fancy name they came up with for the game. Boy was I wrong.
Shortly after I got the platinum trophy for NFS, I happened to be scrolling on YouTube and ended up finding a video of Ken Block drifting in his Honnicorn, which is his signature Ford Mustang that was one of the final unlockable cars in NFS. I was amazed at some of the things he was doing, it was even more bad ass than what I had just spent many hours doing in NFS. This was the beginning of the Ken Block YouTube rabbit hole that lead me to discover the meaning of what a Gymkhana truly is.
What is a Gymkhana❓
The motorsport iteration of Gymkhana—Hindi for “a place for skill-based contests”—is directly inspired by the equestrian discipline of the same name. In the equestrian version of Gymkhana, horse riders participate in speed pattern racing and timed games such as barrel racing, pole bending, flag racing, and more to display precision and control of between the horse and the ride—and it’s no different with the automotive version of Gymkhana.
Source
To put it simply, a Gymkhana is a motorsport in which obstacles are placed throughout a defined path for drivers to maneuver in the quickest time possible.
Beginning in 2008 over the span of 10 years, Ken Block has been professionally filmed doing some mind melting Gymkhanas. These Hoonigan films feature several different camera angles including in/on car, drone, and footage from other moving vehicles.
Each Gymkhana is totally over the top insane and features some of the most precise and skillful drifting I have ever witnessed. Block’s final Gymkhana in the series was released just over two years ago at the end of 2018. He still drifts, but the fancy Gymkhanas are supposed to be finalized. Luckily there are still others keeping this one of a kind motorsport alive.
I thought it would be a fun idea to share all 10 of Ken Block’s Gymkhanas in one place. Most people probably have never seen any of these. If you have I’m willing to bet you haven’t watched all 10 of them. I’ll list each in order of when they released from oldest to newest. My personal favorite is #8.
The official Hoonigan archive is also available here.
Gymkhana 1
The one that started it all. The video that not only redefined car culture, but transformed car media itself. No CGI or sped up footage to be found - only real driving born from Ken Block's rally driving skills. This is the video that launched an empire, and spawned countless imitators. This is Gymkhana.
Date: November 2008
Car: 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Specs: 530hp, 525 lb.-ft. torque
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Gymkhana 2
The wildest infomercial in the world. That's a big claim when you're competing with Billy Mays or the ShamWow Guy, but the second installment of the Gymkhana video series brings it. Fire, smashing glass, paintball assault, near-death crash dummy moments, and explosions. Need I say more?
Date: June 2009
Car: 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Specs: 565hp, 590 lb.-ft. torque
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Gymkhana 3
In his never-ending search for unique places around the world to thrash his racecars, Ken Block happened upon one of the world's steepest surviving oval tracks: Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in France. Transitioning from the street car based Subarus from previous Gymkhana films, to his new purpose-built Ford Fiesta rallycross car, Gymkhana three took the series to a new level. It also marks the first appearance of Scotto in a Gym film, just look for the tall dude on the Segway.
Part 1 of Gymkhana 3 was a music video.
Date: September 2010
Car: 2011 Ford Fiesta
Specs: 600hp, 660 lb.-ft. torque
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Part 2
Gymkhana 4
If Gymkhana two was an infomercial, then Gymkhana four is the ultimate Hollywood Megamercial. Ken Block gets free reign to smash through the backlot of Universal Studios California, from preserved movie sets to sound stages and emptied out filming pools. Only there aren't any Hollywood style film effects here - just pure, raw hoonage.
Date: August 2011
Car: 2014 Ford Fiesta ST
Specs: 350hp, 515 lb.-ft. torque
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Gymkhana 5
The pinnacle of hooning through city streets. San Fransisco might as well be a tarmac rally stage, between all of its jumps, elevation changes, switchback streets, and naturally occurring obstacles. This one might just be the best Gymkhana video of all time to many eyes.
Date: July 2012
Car: 2014 Ford Fiesta ST
Specs: 350hp, 515 lb.-ft. torque
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Gymkhana 6
A life size glimpse into Ken Block's dream Gymkhana course. A real-life automotive playground/skatepark, with obstacles that would be completely out of place on any other racecourse on the planet: including Segway cops, construction equipment, chopped up shipping containers, Lambos, and more.
Date: November 2013
Car: 2015 Ford Fiesta ST
Specs: 600hp, 650 lb.-ft. torque
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Gymkhana 7
Wild in the streets of Los Angeles. Pretty much what you'd imagine it would be like to be one of the sole survivors in a post-apocalyptic cityscape, equipped with one of the greatest hooning vehicles ever built.
Date: November 2014
Car: 1965 Mustang – Hoonicorn V1
Specs: 845hp, 720 lb.-ft. torque
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Gymkhana 8
Dubai is a place that has been breeding automotive folklore for decades. Exotic vehicles, sleeper builds, desert thrashing, and a devil-may-care attitude about it all. AKA the perfect place for HHIC (Head Hoon In Charge) Ken Block to bring one of his favorite racecars - the Ford Fiesta RX43 - and use the city and its surrounding areas as his ultimate exotic playground.
Date: February 2016
Car: 2015 Ford Fiesta ST
Specs: 600hp, 650 lb.-ft. torque
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Gymkhana 9
Raw Industrial Playground. This video returns to the roots of HHIC Ken Block’s 550+million view viral video franchise with pure, raw driving action at center stage once again. Co-starring is his 600+ horsepower Ford Focus RS RX that he competes with in the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Date: September 2016
Car: 2016 Ford Focus RS
Specs: 600hp, 664 lb.-ft. torque
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Gymkhana 10
The Ultimate Tire Slaying Tour takes viewers on an epic journey to 5 very unique and different locations with 5 very unique and different vehicles. The journey starts in Luleå, Sweden, with Block piloting the current 2018 Ford Fiesta WRC on snow and ice—a first-ever for Block in one of his Gymkhana films. After that the action jumps to Detroit, Michigan, with Block in his 1965 Ford Mustang RTR Hoonicorn V2, decimating his tires with 1,400 horsepower on the streets of the Motor City. From there viewers are transported to Guanajuato, Mexico, where Block can be seen ripping through the colorful streets and tunnels of a picturesque mountain town in his 2017 Ford Focus RS RX rallycross car. After that, things go full-sketch with a jump to Los Angeles, California, with Block driving his beloved 199 Ford Escort Cosworth Group A car on a mixture of both tires and bare metal wheels, creating massive sprays of sparks. Finally, viewers are brought to historic Route 66 in Shamrock, Texas (the inspiration for the animated film Cars), for the world debut of Block’s all-new 1977 Ford F-150 Hoonitruck in action as he absolutely wreaks havoc upon the small Texas town.
Date: December 2018
Five different cars used in #10.
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Thanks for checking out my blog 😎🤝
I hope you enjoyed all of the hooning. One thing is for sure, Ken Block will go down as one of the most legendary drift drivers of all time.
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