The Gymkhana Files (2018) s01e03 Episode Script

1
(car revving)
It's something I've
wanted to do for a while.
(tires screeching)
In Gymkhana Three, I
I did donuts until basically
the tires were coming apart
and there's sparks
because of the steel
that's actually woven
into the tire itself.
And I've always wanted to take
that the next step further.
(metal rattling)
That's the thing about Gymkhana 10,
is we have all these dumb ideas
that we've tried
to do years before.
Some of these ideas just take
a lot of time to develop.
This is the second test
of this rim idea
and we most likely
need a third test.
Hit the starter.
(metal grinding)
(beeping)
That's how much effort
it takes sometimes
to do some of these ideas.
And I have to leave tomorrow
for France for the race,
so this just made the most
sense to get this done now.
(beeping)
Wow. I just
realized I get to
do something fun today.
[Man] Yeah, yeah.
(laughing)
(tires screeching)
(rumbling)
(beeping)
[Devon] You want to be
in the car so I can shoot?
[Ken] Uh, I'll probably
put Greg in the car.
[Devon] Yo, that sparks.
[Ken] Yeah, that sparks just doing that.
[Devon] Immediately.
[Man] Is that half way yet?
[Ken] No.
A little bit more.
We really need a D ring,
but we don't have one.
Zip ties.
[Devon] We might
be able to
I like Ken's idea.
If we just do it that way.
All right, ready?
[Devon] This side,
this side, guys.
(engine revving)
(metal grinding)
[Devon] The front left
wheel stopped spinning.
The inside lip is the only one getting
- the traction.
[Man] Oh, yeah.
The outside ones barely
have a mark on them.
[Ken] Hey Brian, why don't try driving it a bit
[Brian] Okay.
- And then do the inching forward style.
- Okay, yeah that works even better, okay.
Alright, Ken.
[Brian] Three, two,
one, action, action.
(engine revving)
(clicking)
(intense music)
(engine revving)
[Brian] Whoo! Oh, my God!
[Man] Oh, that's
going to be famous now!
(laughing)
[Brian] Yo!
That is crazy.
That was fun.
[Brian] I will admit
from the outside
it looks a little alarming.
It's all the things a
car shouldn't be doing.
(laughing)
[Ken] I just
How do we get more?
That seems like a lot.
(jet engine roaring)
(intense rock music)
(static rustling)
Bring all the speed
you can in joker, joker.
Rallycross is a sport,
started 50 years ago.
And it was a made for TV sport.
I think the feature of
rallycross, it's in stadiums,
so it basically means
the crowd can come
and they can see
everything in front of them
as oppose waiting for
one car to go past.
Rallycross is always
changing one heat to another.
The track is
completely different.
You have a lot of
adrenaline on the start.
You know,
it will be very tough,
the first corner is crucial,
the cars are very powerful,
very exciting to drive.
(engine revving)
Here for driving,
no to bullshitting.
(engine revving)
The race is very short,
but very intense.
(engine revving)
(applause)
(engine revving)
(engine revving)
You know that when I try
and think back to, like,
the beginnings of why I
was interested in rally
or what it was,
I honestly I have no idea.
(tires screeching)
I can't remember back
to the first thing.
(gentle music)
But as I kid I looked at
a lot of car magazines.
And any sort of
car sports on TV,
I was interested in watching.
(engine revving)
As that translated in
the 90s with Colin McRae
and then Tom Makinen,
Petter Solberg,
people like that,
they raced through the snow,
they raced through
the deserts of Africa,
there were all these
unique conditions
and not only were they racing
through those conditions,
they were jumping and sliding
and stuff I like to do
with my dirt bike,
so that's why it just always
was something that
was of interest to me.
Even as I got my own car keys.
(engine revving)
I lived on these winding
roads out in the country.
I drove the lines that I thought
rally drivers would drive.
(engine revving)
After he sold DC and
took that break of, like,
what am I going to do, he
went to rally driving school.
(engine revving)
And was like, "I'm pretty
pretty good at this."
(engine revving)
He doesn't like to do
anything unless he's good at it.
I looked at it as this
little rally thing's
gonna be a little fun thing
that he does,
a little hobby
that he kicks off on.
He's gonna go
he's gonna go back,
and I would say, like,
the moment Gymkhana cracked,
it was like, okay,
he's never coming back.
(engine revving)
(rock music)
I've been racing
full time since 2005,
got Rookie of the Year,
and I think 4th overall
in the championship.
(cheering)
[Man] I'm in the middle
of the stages.
(laughing)
I'm gonna turn my home.
Things actually progressed
faster in my career
than for normal drivers,
and a lot of that had to do
with the marketing
that we've been doing
with the Gymkhana videos.
Mexico 2010 was
the first time I met Ken,
and I think the perception
from a lot of drivers
was he was quite
a show boater.
You know, he'd come to do
sideways on the gravel turns
and donuts around
the roundabouts,
and sometimes he did that.
(engine revving)
And I remember we followed
him on Rally Germany,
and there's one big jump,
and he just went higher
and further than everyone else
because he knew
there's a huge crowd there,
he knew he wasn't gonna win
this stage,
so he just gunned it,
took huge air,
and everyone notices it.
Then it makes it into the TV program.
Man's very smart.
Straight away
he was very fast.
He have amazing car control.
His passion for what
he's doing is incredible.
He's a good driver,
he's calculated,
he's not Usually,
he's not being stupid.
[Announcer] Great speed.
(engine revving)
So I was never worried
about him being hurt.
(crashing)
(thudding)
Oh, shit!
[Man] Oh, my!
(engine revving)
(cheering)
(metal rattling)
(clattering)
(beeping)
Whenever you push yourself,
especially in a sport like this,
you're gonna crash.
You don't learn the limits
unless you push the limits.
[Lucy] It was just, oh, great,
he crashed, and now it's over,
and now they have to
go in and get the car,
and it use to take him
about a week to get over it.
He would just sulk.
That was probably my biggest
concern is that
I don't want to deal with him
being a baby for a week.
It use to be, like,
I would crash,
we had to wear these
arm bands that were, like
That shows that you've
signed in for the rally,
and I would wear it
until the next event,
until I had success,
to remind myself every day
that, like, I failed.
And that's how I kind of
punished myself and sometimes
the events were months apart,
and I had to wear this
stupid arm band,
but that's just the mentality
that I wanted so much,
I worked so hard
to have success.
And that those defeats
were just, back then, soul crushing.
(crowd murmuring)
Ken has gone through 10 years
of racing and championships
in always being a bridesmaid
and never being the bride.
This guy has finished
one point off of winning
a championship,
I think twice now.
And that's just been a
huge struggle for him.
He wants a championship.
I mean, every driver does.
And look, you know,
the reason everyone wants it
is because
not everyone gets it.
In 2014, I went
over and raced
two of the world championship races,
one in Norway
and one in France.
I got third overall in
my first race over there in Norway,
and 4th overall in my second,
and actually set the fastest
lap time on that track.
I knew I could have the potential for
success over there.
The thought was, well,
these seem like better tracks,
it fits my driving style more,
like, hey, this could be it.
This could be a championship.
(screeching)
Factory driver,
factory support,
all the factory engineering,
engines, and suspension,
and testing budgets,
this is gonna be amazing.
When I got this factory deal
with Ford,
it really was the epitome of
the right deal at the right time
with me at the right level
as a driver to really go win
a world title.
Hey, for the last couple laps,
none of you heard me on the radio,
like I kind of tried
different stuff.
- Alright then.
- Like cutting that last corner and stuff.
Let's do that.
I'm just saying to look around
to see if there's anything
that stands out that way.
[Man] Lap two was a
quarter second slower.
I have some of the best
team guys in the world.
Some of the best engineers.
[Dave] We're not far off,
but to get to that next stage,
all the risk is in
the last corner.
[Andreas] How much are you
cutting Turn One and Turn Two?
[Dave] (indistinct) (laughing)
Hiring Andreas was
an amazing second driver
to help us both progress,
because I had only been
a one man team before that.
I'm going to prank Ken Block.
To add a second driver on
means another car, more parts,
the coordination of everything and the
person has to fit our team,
the person has to fit
the image of our sponsors,
the person has to be someone
that we think has personality.
That's 500 balloons
right there.
(laughing)
(popping)
It really is a team
effort to make sure
that whatever we need to do
to get done for success
is happening.
Everybody had
heard of Ken Block
because of his
social media activity,
and to have a Hollywood star,
if you like,
certainly in terms of social media
coming to the racing
was really exciting and I think
it made everybody stand up,
say, okay, actually
this sport's going places.
(gentle rock music)
I don't know whether
it's American roots,
but he's just
so media friendly,
and also fan friendly, too.
You know, it's never too much
trouble to sign an autograph
or support somebody and the
kids and the young audience
just eat that up and, you know,
he becomes their hero.
They all want to see Ken Block.
(clanking)
[Ken] This is the
one event that I've had
a lot of success at
in the past,
you know, had the
fastest lap here in 2014.
(engine revving)
It's amazing that we have
such an amazing team,
and such a good set up.
When our car is working
and it's on,
we can be really competitive.
(engine idling)
(engines revving)
[Man] Hold your line, Ken.
Pull over, pull over.
Good, good good,
slow it down just a wee bit.
(engine revving)
Okay, clear by two,
clear by three.
You've got a small gap,
but you're okay.
(indistinct dialog)
Andreas is back,
he's just there.
Come on, Ken,
everything, let's go.
(engines revving)
Bring all the speed
all the speed, come on.
(cheering, applause)
(guitar music)
[Man] Ken Block P3,
overnight, absolutely storming
performance from you in Q2.
You must be really happy.
Yeah, absolutely,
I really enjoy this track.
Stoked to actually have
the focus really feel
quite confident
underneath Andreas and I and
looking forward to trying to keep this
consistency tomorrow.
(cheering)
(upbeat rock music)
I'm just leaving
it full throttle.
It just seems like there's
so much grip it just goes.
(cheering)
(gun firing)
Feels nice to be
back up fighting again.
We need an up tick,
we both need it.
And your third lap
this was pretty good,
your fourth lap was
a little bit slower.
You're fairly consistent.
Well the good thing is
this is the strongest
track for our car,
and we've got
with the set up dialed in,
at least the dry set up.
I mean, if we could
look at the data
from the first qualifiers
to see if either one of us
did something better
than the other,
because I would rather just
be a bit more full throttle
because it seems like
the grip is there,
not like other places
where it spins up.
The one thing that was clear
what happened from the start,
was obviously Andreas
didn't have a good start
and he came back at
you quite quickly Ken.
Each one of those, you know,
giddy up kind of thing moments.
I mean that's why I said
that I wanted to make sure
we learned from it
if I made a mistake
or if we could do
something better than
[Han] No.
- So I'm third, so I'm center?
[Han] Yes.
- Third or fourth?
[Han] You're third,
Andreas is fourth.
So you're Position Three,
Position Four,
but it will be wet
in the morning,
we definitely believed that.
[Ken] Okay.
Do we think full wet
or like drying.
I think it'd be wet.
(sighing)
What we've realized
with our car is it works really good
when there's long corners
with a lot of grip.
That's why I knew
going into Loheac,
we had the possibility for
success,
but we haven't been
able to find
the optimum way
to get this car grip
when it's wet.
Thank you.
[Man] Thank you.
(indistinct chatter)
[Man] Has he got
two laps coming out.
So the last thing
I sent was this.
I mean I really like that.
I think it looks pretty.
- Yeah, pretty amazing.
- Pretty sweet.
I'm here in Loheac to see Ken
about the Gymkhana 10 cars.
It's just quite hard
getting any response
and Ken's traveling all
the time and it's easier
to jump in the plane
for an hour and a half
than to spend
three hours e mailing
and chasing Ken
around the world.
I thought it'd be enough
to kind of get something
of an idea across.
Ken Block is a
fantastic driver. Right?
Put it the other way around,
you couldn't get Petter Solberg
or Tommi Makinen or Sebastien Loeb
to make a skate round.
And that's when you understand
how good Ken is.
Because if you put it
the other way around,
it's never happened.
Alright, so that's
the last thing I sent,
this is the monochrome ones,
I mean the Hoonicorn,
like you said before,
only that's not black,
it just doesn't kind of suit
the car.
Do we want to run
one concept for all of them
or do we want to let them
be a little individualized?
It's sunny out,
but it's really
(laughing)
It was raining out here,
right?
[Artist] Yeah.
Why are you looking angry?
You know, I was
The rain, trying to see
what was going on out there.
♪♪
(dog barking)
(sighing)
I just want some type of
unique terrain,
like a little bump jump
or something like that
that's just different than,
you know,
a regular intersection.
We found a couple locations,
but they're all very similar
in a certain fashion,
which means that the driving
is going to be somewhat similar.
And that's the thing is we
want to be able to create
different driving moments,
so it's like trying to find
that little something
that's really unique.
Unfortunately Texas
is really, really flat,
so trying to find that
may be an issue.
That's the other place
they were talking about it.
This is all really narrow here.
Yeah going through here
is gonna be real difficult.
What's so special about
this project is the fact that
normally you start
with a board and an idea
and then you go
find the location,
and this is
the exact opposite.
You're really looking
for that idea to uncover
and that's what
Brian is so good at.
I think this is probably
gonna be too narrow
to really do anything through
that's gonna be what we want.
- Okay.
- But what I kind of like
is if Ken was coming down this way
And he just kind of
blasts through,
and cuts the section here
(tires screeching)
But then slide halfway
off the curb here
- and into the intersection.
[Diego] So just a go through?
(engine revving)
If we just kind of
shoot around using this
as sort of a backdrop for it.
I think it'd work really well.
You know it's just
beautiful driving with him
because you're driving
and he say, "Oh!"
[Brian] Look at that.
- "I just saw something!" Where?
- So rad.
So you're making a U turn,
you're coming back,
and you're going to see
that thing that he saw.
Hey, look at those doors.
That's how his
creative processes work.
Right here's good.
And that's what makes
this project so much fun.
[Devon] Do you find
that challenging?
Super challenging.
(chuckling)
It's the opposite to
anything you've learned.
(throat clearing)
(door shutting)
(intense rock music)
(engines revving)
(thudding)
[Man] So hello,
bienvenue,
and welcome to Loheac,
as you can see,
rain doesn't stop
qualifying in rallycross.
So it's the last chance for
these guys because, of course,
Qualifying Four decides
who makes it through
to the semifinals,
the top 12 go through,
the rest go home.
(engine revving)
That's them cleaning their
tires on the start line.
Let's have a look over here.
Let's see if we can
grab a word with anyone.
If you follow me, Bob.
A lot of the drivers
are quite shy.
They really don't like
the interviewing stuff,
they just want to get in
their car, put the helmet on,
and go as flat out as they can,
until they either win
or crash.
Guys, I need to go,
I need to go!
So all the interviewing stuff,
it's just a nuisance
and it gets in the way and
sometimes that comes across.
They don't like it.
Just swing this way and say hello
to Mr. Ken Block. Hello, Ken.
Aren't you that guy
that hit me really hard
in the last race?
(laughing)
What's the problem?
Oh, you want to fight?
Alright.
One of the problems with
the WRC is
one guy gets through a stage
and they interview him in the at the end,
he's like "Yeah, great stage,
I won it, perfect."
Everyone else that
comes after him,
the car was under steering
or there was dust or whatever,
so it always sounds like
complaining,
and that really clicked
in my head and I actually
worked on that direction of,
you know, really talking about
maybe I had a bad stage
and maybe I got a punisher,
but that stage was really fun.
[Neil] You've actually had
a very good weekend so far.
Yeah, our car really
fits this track and
I've enjoyed coming and
racing in this very nice circuit
the past two times,
I've been in the final
twice here,
haven't been on
the podium yet so,
trying to get there
this weekend.
(soft gentle music)
I would imagine
on a daily basis
he's faced with this
expectation versus reality
sort of dichotomy.
He knows that he'd love
to be winning races,
but that's not as easy
as everyone thinks it is.
What you have to remember
is that racer drivers,
fundamentally, have
just been doing this
since they were kids.
Normally people
start at eight.
I got my first go kart
for Christmas when I was 13
and I started racing
the year I became 14,
so I was pretty late.
But of course
it's more difficult
when you start when you're 37,
but that is cool thing,
you know?
It's not many people who
have the balls to do that.
If I had started younger
I might have been able to
take the talent that
I had and actually take
the right steps to get
to the highest level.
But it is what it is.
I can't change the past.
I just have to take
what's given to me
and get the most out of it.
[Man] Okay, Ken,
less pads on the grip.
[Ken] Thanks, guys,
I'll do my best.
(thunder rumbling)
[Man] Hello.
(bagpipes wailing)
[Announcer] back to Solberg,
Chris Patterson's teammate
and Ken Block, too, mate,
Ken Block having a
big weekend here.
[Ken] Make it a big weekend
for the final, come on.
(cars revving)
[Announcer] Ready
to race on it's own.
Listen to that engine
over the VWs.
Here we go,
Semi Final number one. Launch.
[Announcer] Green light, bad start.
Solberg great start, Heikinen,
Heikinen's done three.
- Come on.
- Nope.
[Announcer]
jump into the P3,
he gets attacked from the
rear, Ken Block hits him.
That wasn't Ken's fault,
he closed in on him.
It's beyond wet,
my competitors seem
to be getting grip
but I'm not.
[Announcer] Ease,
pulled up, control,
and get popping
on each side.
Come on Ken, come on.
[Announcer] Block's
off on the inside.
Heikinen just
dropped back a bit.
[Man] Oh, no.
Is that a
[Man] No, he's free.
- Has he spun?
[Man] Yeah.
Oh, well.
That's it.
[Announcer] Like the
recent Terakhana video,
that is the cross on the dirt
to get the car back on track.
Damn.
[Man] Left one's down.
Just don't get grip, do we?
We just don't get.
I end up getting
a rear puncture,
then I end up spinning.
[Announcer] Ken Block
comes to the line
after a trip in
the gravel trap, but
[Ken] So I watched a good
finish from the day before
go to just a complete
mess and a loss.
Well, that sucked.
The start wasn't good
But I don't know what to
tell Andreas but ah
the second to last corner
is just very slippery.
[Man] Oh, half.
[Man] Oh, yeah.
Rear puncture.
(laughing)
[Ken] Went from the fastest
to reaction to fourth.
Instantly, by halfway
down the straight, last.
[Man] How can you
get it to us, you know?
So one of the main things
to understand about these cars
and how we race is,
the cars are 600 horsepower,
the tires can't handle
that much horsepower.
We can spin them most anywhere
we want on the track,
so for us there's
so much development
on engine and suspension
and chassis,
and how we drive
and everything,
but it's all the manage
a spec tire,
we all have the same tires,
so it's who can get these tires
to go around the
corner the fastest.
(engines revving)
There's where I go wide
At that point it was like
alright
You go to turn in
and there's nothing.
Our cars just got no traction.
I don't know, are
they that much softer
or they had that much
softer of a throttle?
I didn't feel like
I made any mistakes,
but all of a sudden,
you'd be glide and sliding.
I just don't know,
I just have no idea
why it went so wrong.
(grim music)
Sometimes as
a race car driver
you have good
and bad seasons.
I know I have the talents.
I know that the skills,
at the age that I have,
I'm still one of the fastest
reacting guys off the line
and that's what you need to
get into the first corner with.
(drill buzzing)
There were some good
and bad to take away
from this weekend,
but, I mean, I
We shouldn't have it rain and
then be so far off the pace
and so far off the start,
it doesn't sense to me
that we don't have this stuff
better figured out.
There's no quick answer
with it,
we've been 19 events in,
would you say,
and we're still
struggling with the basics
of making the chassis handle.
We have three different
teams here working together
to try and make this thing.
Is this just not working?
Is it the engineering,
is it the structure?
I think when we had the
Fiesta we were a small team
and we were very quick to react
and we spent our money
wisely and we developed
what we want to do and
we improved the car.
Are we
I mean, what's stopping us
from making it competitive?
It's 19 events of
frustration now for me.
I went from being
able to win events
to being lucky if
I'm in the final,
so I don't
I don't know where
to go with them.
I can't go on doing this,
it doesn't make sense.
(sighing)
Alright, well, there are
I got to make some
tough decisions.
[Announcer] Green flag is
at the front of the grid.
It's raised by the marshal,
that will raise the pulses
of the drivers, they reach down for
the steering wheels, the handbrakes.
Come on Andreas,
get it started.
[Announcer] Light is on.
Yes.
[Announcer] There it is,
Bakkerud creeping
in the background, but gets
away with a fantastic start
by Sebastien Loeb, Timmy
Hansen going to go short,
he's locked in.
[Ken] Good start, yeah kid.
[Announcer] nudge there
to Bakkerud, but I think gets
He's doing better than you.
[Ken] Thank you, Myka.
(laughing)
[Man] Vote of confidence there.
[Ken] Yeah.
[Announcer] Loeb went
wide as well, so that worked
out really well
for the Persia guy.
[Ken] Come on,
Andreas, come on.
[Announcer] Then the wiper
has to clear it and it can't
So hard to see right there.
(car revving)
[Ken] Come on!
[Ken] Yup, he's got it.
[Man] Yup.
[Ken] He's got it.
[Ken] Yeah,
that's straight up.
(clapping)
That was a tie,
took four of the eight.
That's not bad at all.
If he had stuck with a safe
existing rallycross model,
got in that car, I think
he and Andreas could maybe
have been more
competitive this year.
(applause)
Again, it's trying
to do something new.
He's always slightly one
step ahead of the curve,
and he doesn't always wait
long enough for the curve
to catch up with him.
It's difficult because I think
if he took the safe route,
then he might have won a title.
(guitar strumming)
[Diego] The deer
right there, nice.
The deers are
just hanging out.
Don't worry, it's gonna wait
until the very last second
and then run in
front of the car.
That's what it's going to do.
(laughing)
Because deer suck.
Look, look, there he is,
here he is, and he's about
to run in front of
the car, last minute.
(groaning)
See, see?
(laughing)
Deer suck.
I hate deer.
All these buildings
are rad, I just wish
they were on concrete
instead of grass.
Oh, this is rad.
Stop here.
(birds chirping)
This your collection here?
[Man] My dad was an
Edsel dealer in '58.
[Brian] Oh, okay.
(laughing)
That's my
high school car there,
that convertible.
I've had these cars
for years and years.
If we wanted to
borrow some of these cars
for some filming,
think we could
work something out?
Anything you want to do.
They're just cars out here.
(cell phone chirps)
You know, Ken
texted me and said,
"Hey, do you have
five minutes to chat?"
It's not normal for Ken to call me
during the middle of an event,
he's got Matt and Ron there
to handle a lot of that stuff.
Yeah, no, I watched
part of the live stream.
[Ken] I don't know
what to do.
Everything that we've
worked for,
Everything that we've tried,
we're coming up short.
What did Derek say about it?
Where Where does he stand
on this?
He called me and he said
"Look, I
I just don't know if
we should keep doing this."
Yeah, I know from my
perspective I just don't know
if this really
makes sense for us.
[Ken] I'm at the point
He's like,
"I'm just sick of it.
"I came here because I wanted
to chase a championship."
[Ken] Unfortunately for me,
it's just
Yeah. No, I get it.
I'm gonna have to tell them
that it's time for me to move on.
That's That's where I'm at.
(slow intense music)