Video: Ken Block beats the train in Gymkhana Nine

WHEN DRIVING interviewed Ken Block earlier this year, the rally driver and YouTube star responsible for the Gymkhana stunt films flat-out refused to tell us where the next instalment in the series would take place. Now we know.

Released today, Gymkhana Nine: Raw Industrial Playground takes place in – you guessed it – an abandoned industrial site in Buffalo, New York.

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It does away with much of the humour and sideshows associated with some of the previous Gymkhanas and concentrates on good old-fashioned man-and-car stunts with the 600bhp, 660 lb ft Ford Focus RS RX he drives in the world rallycross championship. Capable of doing 0-60-mph in less than two seconds, it’s a fearsome, fire-spitting hatchback.

For our money, the most jaw-dropping sequence involves a sheer drop into water, but there’s also an impressive train-dodging set piece and another that centres on a pick-up dangling from a helicopter.