Former F1 Academy driver Lia Block has confirmed that she can be competing within the 2026 American Rally Affiliation Nationwide Championship in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2.
Block made her American Rally Affiliation debut in 2021 earlier than taking a full-time function in 2022. In 2023, she raced within the Open Two-Wheel-Drive class and have become the youngest champion within the collection at 16 years previous.
In 2024 and 2025, the American driver switched to single-seaters, and she or he joined the Williams Racing driver academy and raced within the all-female racing collection, F1 Academy.
After leaving F1 Academy on the finish of 2025, Block determined to return to the world of rally relatively than pursue a future in single-seaters.
“I’m stepping as much as the RC2 class in a Hyundai Rally2 automotive, which may be very thrilling for me,” Block instructed DirtFish.
“Clearly a giant step up from the 2023 championship and the Rally3 automotive, however I imagine in myself and my capacity to study new vehicles and new disciplines in a short time, so I’m simply actually excited for the highway forward.”
Discussing her objective of profitable the championship, she added: “I believe it’s very, very attainable to be combating for the championship and that’s what I can be working in the direction of.
Lia Block, ART Grand Prix
Picture by: Simon Galloway / LAT Photographs through Getty Photographs
“Clearly, as you already know, rally is a really unpredictable sport and issues can occur two corners from the end, and I discovered that already this 12 months!
“I believe I’ve already confirmed my expertise in rally by profitable the rear-wheel-drive championship in 2023, however the general championship is unquestionably what I’m going for, and naturally it’s a giant deal.
“I believe this 12 months received’t have a scarcity of competitors, and I believe that’s going to be probably the most tough half. However I actually, actually do look ahead to it. It’s about restating myself on this planet of rally.
“So I’ll simply be taking it as a studying alternative each time I’m again within the automotive and having enjoyable as a result of I believe that’s crucial factor, and positively what I’ve missed from rally within the earlier years.”
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