Lia Block has closed the door on her F1 Academy chapter and gone back to the discipline that made her family name. The 19-year-old has confirmed a full 2026 American Rally Association programme in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 — stepping up to the RC2 class and openly targeting the overall championship.
Block spent the past two seasons in the all-female F1 Academy series under the Williams Racing banner, finishing eighth in 2024 and ninth in 2025 with one race win at Marina Bay and a podium at Zandvoort. Williams confirmed at the end of last year that her time inside the Driver Academy was over, and Block has used the off-season to commit fully to a path that runs through gravel rather than asphalt.
"I'm stepping up to the RC2 class in a Hyundai Rally2 car, which is very exciting for me," Block said. "I think it's very, very possible to be fighting for the championship and that's what I will be working towards."
The move marks the second major rally chapter of her career. Block won the ARA's rear-wheel-drive championship in 2023 in a Ford Fiesta, racked up four overall wins and a podium that season, and added the Boone Forest Rally (ARA East) in 2025 alongside her Williams commitments. She has since moved to a current-generation Rally2 car, the same machinery used in front-running WRC2 entries in Europe.
Block has been candid about the level of competition awaiting her in 2026. The ARA's RC2 class has expanded over the past two seasons, with experienced campaigners and several factory-supported entries adding depth.
"This year won't have a lack of competition, and I think that's going to be the most difficult part," she said. "It's about restating myself in the world of rally."
"Rally is a very unpredictable sport," Block said. "And things can happen two corners from the finish."
The campaign is being run through Block House Racing — the family team founded by her late father Ken Block, the Hoonigan founder and rallycross pioneer who died in a snowmobile accident in early 2023. Lia made her senior rally debut shortly after his passing and has since carried his legacy across rallying, rallycross, F1 Academy, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and the Baja 1000, where she won the Pro Stock UTV class on her first attempt.
Despite the championship target, Block is approaching the year as a learning project as much as a results push. She started her ARA campaign at Sno*Drift, finished on the podium at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood and recovered from 13th to third at the Olympus Rally — a result that confirmed both the speed of the new car and the steepness of the Rally2 learning curve.
"I've already showed my talent in rally by winning the rear-wheel-drive championship in 2023, but the overall championship is definitely what I'm going for," she said. "I'll just be taking it as a learning opportunity every time I'm back in the car and having fun, because I think that's the most important thing."
Beyond 2026, Block has been clear in interviews that she still has European-level WRC ambitions on her medium-term plan. The Hyundai i20 N Rally2 is the entry point to that ladder — and a championship win at home would be the most direct way to put herself in that conversation.
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