This weekend marks the start of the rally season here in the States, with a pair of looking like favorites. But there’s an interesting car challenging them: Ken Block’s ultramodern Ford Escort Cosworth.

This is the second iteration of Ken’s Cossie, the .

If you’ve ever gone to a rally event, you know things can get real sketchy real quick. It’s part…

The newer car look oddly a lot simpler, if a lot less close to 1990s factory spec. I find the whole venture deeply interesting as a kind of thought experiment. What would a 1990s top rally car look like if teams had access to modern engines, electronics, suspension, and other hardware?

Charmingly, the guy who runs Ken’s rally team is none other than Derek Dauncey, who ran Mitsubishi’s world-beating team back during the ‘90s.

Keep an eye on the , run by ARA. It kicks off tomorrow in Missouri. I’d be there if I were you.