As the Las Vegas F1 race approaches, Ken Block, rally driver with Hoonigan Racing Division, broke in the Las Vegas Strip as a race course by making one of his own prior to the Formula 1 takeover of the Las Vegas Strip in 2023. Gymkhana, the film series by Block which captures difficult tracks throughout the world's most impressive locations, took on the challenge of the Las Vegas Strip to race and perform auto stunts with an Audi all-electric car named the Hoonitron.
Block mentions, “Over the past decade, we have continually pushed to do something new and different with my Gymkhana series." “When Audi approached us with the idea of doing a film in a special electric vehicle that they would construct solely for the film, we jumped at the challenge."
The conceptualization of the Hoonitron commenced in March 2021 in Germany with the finest engineers and designers of Audi Sport. After just nine months of modernizing design elements from an Audi quattro rally car and developing e-tron performance for Formula E, the bi-motor all-wheel-drive coupe Hoonitron became the product of the old tried and true factors of Audi Sport vehicles and new electric automobile technology.
Block took a novel approach to master tricks and stunts with this cutting edge electric vehicle. “While I may love the sound of a turbo engine, or the grunt of a V8, we have done that all before. The instant torque and shiftless nature of an electric motor allowed for us to push certain tricks to a whole new realm,” says Block. The center-axis donuts performed by the electric vehicle and Block created G-force-level pressure and a 140 mph wheel speed.
Member of the Board for Technical Development at AUDI AG, Oliver Hoffmann says, “With the S1 Hoonitron we broke entirely new ground at Audi. Developing a fully electric prototype for the unique requirements of our partner Ken Block was an exciting challenge to which the whole team rose with flying colors.”
See Also: The Ultimate Guide To The Las Vegas Strip
The Gymkhana series has taken off with over 600 million views on Youtube to share the challenging stunts across the globe in stunning locations with car enthusiasts. Block and his team push the limits of rally driving and document the journey via the Gymkhana series. The Las Vegas course and tricks exceeded the expectations of film director Brian Scotto.
Scotto mentions of the location, “Vegas is such a unique place, it’s literally pulsing with energy at night, and that’s what we wanted to capture by going there." He continues, “It’s still shocking to me the level of access we pulled off. We locked down The Strip for hours. I haven’t had that ‘can’t believe they are gonna let us do this’ feeling since Gymkhana Five in San Francisco.”
Watch Electrikhana and the full collection of Gymkhana films.
Photography by: Courtesy of Hooligan Electrikhana
