Travis Pastrana took over the Gymkhana video series from founder Ken Block in 2018, with the latter having made 10 films before passing the baton to his former team-mate.
While Pastrana’s first starring role took place in 2020, the untimely death of Block in a 2023 snowmobile accident gave him the reins permanently, subsequently resulting in two more videos, the most recent of which – Aussie Shred – launched this week.
However, after the action sports star rode off into the distance on a dirt bike at its conclusion, series director and Hoonigan co-founder Brian Scotto took to social media to announce it would be Pastrana’s last Gymkhana video.
“17 years ago, Ken Block released a video supplement to an article in 0-60 Magazine (where I was EIC) about gymkhana racing. It was simply titled ‘Gymkhana Practice’,” Scotto wrote on Instagram.
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“It broke the internet before we knew it was even breakable. We had no idea then what kind of future it would create for us… Fast forward 12 years, and KB and I tapped Travis Pastrana to take over the primary series as Ken focused on new spin-offs like Climbkhana and Electrikhana.
“Travis had a very different approach to the films, which was exciting for me, and as we’d find out, the audience as well. The film that dropped today is bittersweet for many reasons—the obvious being the enormous absence of Ken Block. But I also knew it would be the last film Pastrana planned to do.
“Which on the upside meant we didn’t hold back, and threw everything we had at making the project special, but I’m surely going to miss working with Travis. He’s an absolute pleasure to direct and all the right kinds of crazy! Thanks again my friend for coming to shred in this playground Ken created for us.”
The question now remains as to who will take over as the lead star in the Gymkhana video series, which has never gone more than three years without a film release.
Gymkhana Aussie Shred is a ‘redemption story’, tribute to Ken Block
Perhaps the most logical successor is Lia Block, Ken’s eldest child who first started racing in the American Rally Association, before moving up the ranks to Extreme E and Nitrocross, and racing in the F1 Academy as a Williams driver in 2024 and 2025.
Lia has also driven some of Ken’s cars such as the twin-turbo V8 Hoonicorn Ford Mustang, and the Hoonipigasus Pikes Peak Porsche, as well as Williams FW14B F1-winning machine at Goodwood.
She is set to return to rally racing next year and a few months ago unveiled a Toyota GR Corolla as her new project car, potentially previewing a possible tie-up with the increasingly visible performance brand.
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