LEGO Speed Champions Audi S1 ticks (almost) every box for fans

LEGO Speed Champions doesn’t feature any named drivers in its upcoming wave – and some fans are noticing a particular drift-artist-shaped hole in the line-up.

Five sets are due to join the LEGO Speed Champions range next month, covering a wide range of cars from Formula 1 in 30683 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car to icons of the road in 76920 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. While each comes with at least one minifigure driver, none of them are named – even when one in particular is inextricably tied to a well-known driver. The $10-million car that inspired 76921 Audi S1 e-tron quattro is often referred to in real life more simply as the Hoonitron, so named after its famed driver, the late Ken Block, who died in a snowmobile accident in January 2023.

As an American professional rally driver and drift artist, Ken Block was known for his daring driving feats, which he documented widely on YouTube. He also founded Hoonigan Racing (based on the Australian/New Zealand term hoonigan for a person who does daring driving tricks), which in turn gave the Hoonitron its nickname. The car was “uniquely developed” specifically for Ken and featured in some of his most watched videos, with Audi chief designer Marc Lichte saying that his team was “constantly in touch with Ken Block and his team and engaged in intensive exchanges”.

The Hoonitron made its debut in a video from Ken Block, hitting the streets of Las Vegas for a closer circuit that showed off what it can do. Check it out in full below.

It’s clear from a glance that 76921 Audi S1 e-tron quattro is a replica of this specific car, down to the livery and ad placement on the bodywork. The build captures the jutting front bumper, the red accents, and the black and white patchwork paint job down to the last detail. However, there’s no mention of Ken Block, Hoonigan Racing, or the Hoonitron nickname in either the name of the set, the stickers on the bodywork, or even the name and appearance of the minifigure.

This might well come down to a licensing issue or perhaps even a timeline issue, with Ken Block dying just over a year ago and feasibly after the Speed Champions set had already been designed. For whatever reason, it leaves the set itself with a glaring hole for anyone who knows anything at all about the Hoonitron – which is surely the target audience for the upcoming LEGO Speed Champions set.

76921 Audi S1 e-tron quattro was built specifically for and in close partnership with Ken Block, so to place an anonymous smiling minifigure driver feels almost sacrilegious to many fans of drifting. After all, despite all five of the upcoming LEGO Speed Champions sets featuring unnamed drivers, it wouldn’t be the first for the theme, with 76917 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) including a Brian O’Connor minifigure a full ten years after actor Paul Walker’s death.

“I’m a little disappointed there isn’t a [Ken Block] tribute somewhere on it,” commented one reddit user, while another agreed: “Disappointed it’s not even called the Hoonitron.” While the design of the car itself has gone down a treat with fans of the theme, it’s hard to ignore the KB-shaped hole in the build.

However, hope is not lost for Ken Block fans. After all, 76917 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) was released ten years after Paul Walker’s death, an appropriate length of time to honour a beloved figure with a tribute. With Ken Block’s death only last year, perhaps the dust has not yet settled enough for a minifigure tribute. 2033 could be the year for a dedicated Hoonitron set, complete with KB minifigure. For now, the attention to detail in 76921 Audi S1 e-tron quattro is still enough to impress fans of the car – just don’t look too hard at the minifigure and you can pretend that its one true driver is still at the wheel.

Every LEGO Speed Champions set confirmed for March 2024

LEGO set	Price	Pieces	Release date
30683 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car	TBC	58	March 1, 2024
76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car	£20.99 / $26.99 / €26.99	245	March 1, 2024
76920 Ford Mustang Dark Horse	£20.99 / $26.99 / €26.99	344	March 1, 2024
76921 Audi S1 e-tron quattro	£20.99 / $26.99 / €26.99	274	March 1, 2024
76922 BMW M4 GT3 & BMW M Hybrid V8 Race Cars	£44.99 / $44.99 / €49.99	676	March 1, 2024

Featured image: Audi

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