VIDEO: Ken Block Flips His Fiesta ahead of Rally of Portugal

Ken Block got off to a bad start before his third WRC event of 2011, crashing violently during the shakedown of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal yesterday. Even though the Ford Fiesta RS WRC was destroyed, lucky the American race driver and his copilot Alex Gelsomino managed to walk away from the incident without any injuries.

It's the first major crash for Ken Block in a World Rally Car and this means the Californian will have to watch this weekend's rally from the sidelines. The next WRC event for Block will be Rally Argentina (May 26-29). Check Block's unintentional stunt after the jump.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

New Video of Ford’s 2012 Focus ST Hot Hatch

Ford’s European arm has released yet another video of its upcoming Focus ST sport hatch that’s expected to hit the market early next year. There’s nothing new to see per se as the company has already published numerous teaser films in the months following the car’s introduction at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

As a reminder, the hottest version of the new generation Focus (that is, until Ford decides to resurrect the RS nameplate in the near future) will be propelled by a force-fed 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine cranking out 250 ponies and 360 Nm / 265 lb ft of torque. The show car was equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox driving the front wheels, but there’s a good chance the production model will also be offered with a dual clutch transmission. Hit the jump for the video.

VIDEO

Ford Releases Videos of Its New Police Interceptors Taking on the Competition

Ford has released a series of six videos with the Taurus and Explorer-based police vehicles undergoing various tests performed by police officers. The performance, handling and durability of the Interceptors were tested in a series of real-world police maneuvers and driving conditions and then compared to those of the competitors. The six videos show Ford's police cars taking on the Chevrolet Tahoe PPV and Dodge Charger Pursuit in a series of tests to find out which are the most capable purpose-built police cars.

We will remind you that both models are available with all-wheel-drive and a choice of powertrains, all of them being at least 20 percent more fuel-efficient than the current 4.6-liter V8 of the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor – always according to Ford.

The Exlporer Interceptor has a 3.7-liter V6 engine mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox and delivers 300 horsepower and E85 compatibility, while the sedan is offered with two engine choices, a 280-hp 3.5-liter V6 that is E85 compatible or a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 twin-turbocharged engine with direct-injection developing 365 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque (475 Nm).

Both Police Interceptors will be built at Ford's Chicago plant from the end of this year right after the end of production of the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEOS