New attractive video of Ken Block and his Ford Focus RX, named Gymkhana 9: Raw Industrial Playground, offers eight minutes of sliding past the pillars and tires, jumping across the railway tracks and drifting on the edge of the pier. The producers decided to add less special effects this time, and offer more genuine and authentic automotive action. So far, the previous eight videos from Gymkhana series was seen by almost 350 million people.

Gymkhana 9 official video:

This year, the star is Ford Focus RX

All nine Gymkhana videos were recorded with Ken Block driving Subaru or Ford cars, all with four-wheel drive and specially adapted power and torque. This year, the honor goes to Ford Focus RX, a racing version of the Ford Focus RS for the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The car was prepared by the company M-sport from the United Kingdom. The engine is capable of producing more than 600 HP, and almost 900 Nm of torque. All this is enough for Ford Focus RX to accelerate up to a hundred kilometers per hour in just over two seconds.

Where was Gymkhana 9 filmed?

The success of Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos, of course, also depends on an attractive location. In the past, for the purpose of recording, the production team already closed one of the busiest bridge in San Francisco (last year), as well as streets and wide avenues in Dubai. The video with the second highest number of views on YouTube was filmed on the old oval racetrack in Monthlerely, Paris, France. And Gymkhana 9 location: Industrial Park in Buffalo, New York.

Video from San Francisco with the most views, total number close to 350 million

Most views Ken Block got for the Gymkhana 5 video, filmed on the streets of San Francisco. This clip reached nearly 87 million views. Since then, the series’ popularity seems to drop, because the next three following series managed to get only about half of that views on YouTube.

And because of that, this year’s basic guideline was to prepare a video without any additional effects in the Hollywood style. Viewers on YouTube, of course expect more from year to year. And those requirements are hard to follow, despite high budget, a large production team and Ken Block’s skills and creativity.

All Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos, locations and cars

• 2008 Gymkhana 1, 2005 Subaru WRX STI with 530 PS, abandoned airport grounds somewhere in the US, 15.2 million views:

• 2009 Gymkhana 2, 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI with 560 PS, harbor area of Los Angeles, 48.1 million views:

• 2010 Gymkhana 3, 2011 Ford Fiesta MK7 with 650 PS, Autodrome in France, 62.1 million views:

• 2011 Gymkhana 4, 2012 Ford Fiesta HFHV with 650 PS, Universal Studios in California, 28.8 million views:

• 2012 Gymkhana 5, 2012 Ford Fiesta HFHV with 650 PS, closed streets of San Francisco, 86.9 million views:

• 2013 Gymkhana 6, 2013 Fiesta ST RX43 with 650 PS, Special Gymkhana GRID course, 36.3 million views:

• 2014 Gymkhana 7, 1965 Ford Mustang The Hoonicorn with 845 PS, the streets of Los Angeles, 37.5 million views:

• 2016 Gymkhana 8, Ford Fiesta RX43 with 650 PS, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), 20.4 million views:

• 2016 Gymkhana 9, Ford Focus RX with 600 PS, Industrial Park in Buffalo, New York, already reached 7,5 million views in first 5 days.

The total number of YouTube views of the official Gymkhana video series currently stands at 342.8 million.

Image and video credit: Hoonigan, Ford Performance, DC Shoes.