Ken Block Gymkhana coming to Oz

A week before the World Rally Championship heads to Coffs Harbour, Ken Block will put on a free show as part of the 'Gymkhana World Tour' in Melbourne
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He's made an art out of high-speed four-wheel drifts, smoke-billowing burnouts and getting airborne in rally-spec sports car games, and now gymkhana maestro Ken Block is bringing his dare-devil brand of precision driving to Australia, on Saturday September 3.

An Australian stop in the first week of September has been added to the Gymkhana World Tour where Ken Block will perform his famous brand of high-adrenaline driving at Calder Park, on the outskirts of Melbourne.

And the high-octane display will be free.

"One of the great things about the Gymkhana World Tour down in Australia is that it's free to the public, so everyone can come. I hope everybody that wants to see it can make it out because it's going be amazing," said Ken Block.

"Watching the gymkhana car slide around live in-person is much better than seeing it in video, so I hope everyone that is interested in seeing this can make it out."

The event will be precursor to the Australian WRC event at Coffs Harbour in NSW that begins on September 9.

As one of the founders of global clothing company DC Shoes, 43-year-old Block has worked his way into professional rally racing and currently drives for the Monster World Rally Team in a select number of WRC events in 2011.

His weapon of choice when driving in anger, both in his most recent rallies and gymkhanas, is a rally-spec Ford Fiesta and Block has confirmed that the Fiesta seen in his more recent stunt films - such as gymkhana three, part two (video below) - will be flown to Australia for the Gymkhana World Tour.

The Ford Fiesta Gymkhana car was created by the same team that worked on the WRC car and is powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that has undergone several serious modifications to boost power to 625kW (850hp), though a restriction kit drops power to "only" 478kW (650hp) to make it a little easier to drive.

That power is backed up by 894Nm of torque, all which finds its way to all four wheels. Yep, it's a quick car.

Having conquered YouTube with hundreds of millions of viewers watching his precision rally driving, Ken Block has never before been to Australia, and said he was "stoked" to be bringing his Gymkhana World Tour Down Under. "My visit is shaping up to be wild," said the entrepreneur-turned-rally-driver.

"We're coming down and doing a ton of different things during my visit [to Australia] and I'm not just there for the World Tour. I'm also racing in WRC Australia the following week. I can't wait; it's going to be a very fun couple of weeks for me."

Some of the guests appearing at the Gymkhana World Tour include locals such as Jamie Whincup, Shane Tucker, Matt Mingay and the sponsor Monster Energy's Showtime freestyle motocross team.