Rally driver and racing game icon Ken Block has died in a snowmobile accident aged 55.
As reported by ABC News, Block was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident in Utah on January 2 after his snowmobile upended on a steep slope.
Alongside a successful professional racing career, Block also had a significant presence in racing video games, having appeared in several premier franchises including Need for Speed, Dirt, and Forza.
“
“We are saddened to hear of the loss of Kenneth and our hearts are with his family and friends so deeply affected,” said the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office.
Block’s auto media and apparel company, Hoonigan Industries, also took to social media to pay respects to its co-founder. “Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband. He will be incredibly missed,” it said on Instagram.
Block played himself in the live action scenes of 2015’s Need for Speed, featuring as the Style Icon that the player character strove to impress. He also appeared as a driver in Colin McRae’s Dirt 2 and Dirt 3, and his Hoonigan cars appeared in Forza Motorsport 7 and Forza Horizon 3, 4, and 5.
Image Credit: Massimo Bettiol/Getty Images
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.