Last year Audi announced that Ken Block had joined the German automaker as an ambassador for its E-tron sub-brand. Read our original article here. Well, it seems that he is taking a bit of a break from that partnership as he unveiled a new racecar, called the Hoonipigasus Porsche. BBi Autosport built the one-of-a-kind machine for Block to compete in the 2022 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

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The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), in Colorado, is one of the most famous events of this type anywhere in the world. The Race to the Clouds, as it is called, is an invitation-only race to the summit of Pikes Peak. This year’s event will take place on Sunday, June 26. It will be the 100th running of the PPIHC. The 20 km course has 156 turns and peaks at over 4 300 metres. Pikes Peak was immortalised in the famous Climb Dance video, which you can watch at this link.


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Trying too hard?

The Hoonipigasus Porsche looks wicked but it has a daft name, in our opinion. The name is an amalgamation between a few different ideas. Hoonigan is the name of Block’s company. Pig refers to the ‘Pink Pig’ 917 Porsche of 1971 (pictured above) from which the new car takes its design inspiration. And you can see the flying horse Pegasus on the side of the car. The latter is to honour Mobil 1, one of the sponsors of the project.

Turbo AWD

The Hoonipigasus Porsche is loosely based on a 911. BBi has dubbed the car a Porsche SVRSR. It has a 4,0-litre flat-six engine that is fed by twin turbochargers. Almost 1 050 kW of power is sent to all four wheels. The engine has been moved from behind the rear axle to in front, making it mid-engined.

The car is said to tip the scales at just one ton. It rides on GPS height-adjusted suspension that uses telemetry from previous years to adjust the ride height for maximum downforce at all points of the course.

In his own words

“The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is one of the big reasons as to why I’m a rally driver,” said Block. “The list of drivers who have raced and won this hill climb includes many of my heroes: Walter Rohrl, Ari Vatanen, Michelle Mouton, Sebastien Loeb and Rod Millen to name a few. 

“I’ve always wanted the chance to race Pikes Peak at the top level and compete for an overall win – and with our team and BBi Autosport creating this amazing Porsche, we’ve got a good shot! I’m stoked to be a part of this iconic race and totally up for the challenge to add my name to those that have gone the fastest overall in the most technically challenging hill climb on the planet.”