Driving Sports

Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino have continued their drive after dominating last month's Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, and after the first five stages of this weekend's New England Forest Rally, the Subaru Rally Team USA duo are sitting atop the leaderboard.

Block/Gelsomino currently lead second place Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard by 10.5 seconds, while SRTUSA teammates (and current points leaders) Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom sit 16.1 seconds behind the leaders.

NEFR ran an abbreviated Day 1 schedule, with teams covering only about six and a-half miles Friday, but Block said he had some of the best racing of his career. The final stage of the day was the challenging Concord Pond, which includes some of the biggest jumps in the series.

"That's my favorite stage in the entire championship," said an enthusiastic Block late Friday. "I love that stage – I dream about it all year."

Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino bested their previous record-setting time by some eight seconds.

L'Estage and Richard said they were driving well in their new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X on Friday. Tanner Foust debuted the new Evo in the US earlier this seasons under a sharing arrangement with L'Estage. But, as is often the case with a new build, there have been some teething problems and this is the first event that L'Estage has felt confidence in the car.

"The car is perfect," L'Estage said Friday. "I've always known it's a strong platform and this car has a lot of potential."

Pastrana and Edstrom battled through the closing stage of the day after an intercom failure that meant they had to run without the benefit of notes.

We'll have more later this weekend as Day 2 of NEFR gets underway.