Lia Block, the 16-year-old daughter of the late Ken Block, will head to this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the wild Porsche 911 ‘Hoonipigasus’ built for her father last year.
Block recently announced on Instagram that while she will be driving the crazy hill climber at the event, she won’t be chasing any records. Instead, it will be a tribute run to Ken. It will also be Lia’s first time driving up the famous mountain so it makes sense why she’ll be taking it easy.
Ken Block and his Hoonigan Racing Division worked with BBi Autosport to build the Hoonipigasus loosely based on a vintage 911. Block had hoped to be able to set a sub-8 minute time in the Porsche, beating the current record of the VW ID.R at 7:57.148 and Sebastien Loeb’s ICE record of 8:13.878 in his specially-built Peugeot 208 T16.
Found beneath the skin of the insane 911 is a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter flat-six that is good for 1,400 hp. This engine works alongside an all-wheel-drive system and given that the entire car weighs just 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs), results in extraordinary levels of performance. Another key system of the Hoonipigasus is its height-adjustable suspension system that uses GPS data to perfectly cater to the grueling hill climb.
Read: Hoonipigasus Is Ken Block’s 1,400 HP Porsche 911-Based Racecar For Pikes Peak
Then there is the aerodynamics. BBi Autosport crafted a massive front splitter for the car as well as a towering rear wing that would make even the most potent of Le Mans prototype race cars proud. While no downforce figures have been released, they’d obviously be monumental.
Unfortunately, Ken Block’s appearance at last year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was cut short after one of the cylinders failed during a practice session.
