Loyalist student triumphant on formula racetrack

Nathan Blok (centre) standing victorious on the podium after a race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. May 2, 2015. The race was part of the Canadian F2000 series. Zacharie Robicon came in 2nd (left) and Chase Pelletier came in 3rd for the race. Blok would go on to win the F2000 championship. Photo courtesy Nathan Blok

By Joseph Quigley

BELLEVILLE – Loyalist student Nathan Blok won the Canadian Formula 2000 championship on Nov. 7, the latest achievement in his racing career.

It was Blok’s third formula championship in five years. He previously earned top honours at the Canadian Formula 1600 series in 2011 and 2012.

Blok, who comes from Beachburg, Ont., said that winning is a thrill.

“The first thing that goes through your mind is:  ‘It’s over. It sinks in. You competed against 30 other people and you came out on top of them and won.’ It’s very satisfying, very relieving and very rewarding,” he said.

Blok competes at various levels on the formula racing scene. Formula is a type of racing that uses a specific type of single-seat car. There are many different levels and series of formula racing around the world, including the Canadian F1600 and F2000 series, which are the top formula series in Canada. Blok dreams of getting to the highest level in the sport worldwide: Formula One.

But racing hasn’t been an easy road for Blok. He not only has to compete with other racers on the track, he also has to compete against those with deeper pockets. Formula racing can be expensive. A full season in the F1600 series costs Blok $60,000 and prices increase as racers continue to higher levels of competition.

It’s a challenge for Blok’s family, who does not have the income to support his career on their own.

“We’re not hurting financially, but compared to my competition, we are not very wealthy,” said Blok. “Racing is a rich person’s sport and if you’re not rich, you’re going to struggle to survive.”

Nathan Blok’s father and manager Steve Blok said that funding a racing career is difficult.

“It’s been an absolute nightmare.”

The elder Blok added that his son has the talent to succeed, but the costs of racing are a tough hurdle.

“It’s driven by sponsorship and by financing.  If (Nathan) had a full season in whatever discipline with a proper amount of practice, I don’t think there’s any question he could conquer just about anything you threw at him,”  he said.

Nathan Blok driving down the raceway in his No. 88 car. Photo courtesy Nathan Blok

The costs drove the family to pursue sponsorship to fund the younger Blok’s racing career. In 2011, he went on the CBC reality show Dragon’s Den, a program where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and products to wealthy investors, to convince one of the show’s millionaire investors to sponsor his racing career.

Blok succeeded in securing an investment: $25,000 in advertising sponsorship from one of the investors – also known as dragons – Jim Treliving, owner of Boston Pizza and Mr. Lube.

Blok said it was one of the most frightening things he ever did and took a lot of preparation.

“We went to family and friends, I said: ‘Pretend that you’re one of the dragons and I’m coming to you looking for a legitimate investment and you hate me. Treat me like dirt, treat me like scum. I want to be prepared for the worst.’ It was not a walk in the park.”

The investment helped Blok win his first championship in the F1600 series in 2011. He said remains on good terms with Treliving’s businesses and they are continuing to support him.

After Blok won his second F1600 championship a year later, he sought higher levels of racing competition, but was constrained by the costs. He raced a limited schedule in the Canadian Touring Car Challenge in 2013, which uses modified multi-seat cars outside of the formula class. Blok returned to formula racing in 2014, competing in the U.S.-based USF20oo, but it was just too expensive for him to compete in the full series.

Blok bounced back to another championship with the creation of the Canadian F2000 series in 2015, designed to be a step up on the F1600 series. He was able to get enough sponsorship for a more complete season in the F2000, which helped him emerge as a champion again.

Next year, Blok said he hopes to raise $200,000 to race at Formula Lites. It features races located in both Canada and the U.S. and would be one of the highest levels Blok has raced in.

“We’re working on it very hard, and things are looking very promising,” he said.

Nathan Blok with manufacturing equipment at Loyalist College. Blok came to Loyalist for a backup option in case his championship racing career does not work out. Photo by Joseph Quigley, QNet News

Blok has other career plans outside of racing. He’s also a 2nd year manufacturing engineering technician student at Loyalist College, a program that he said offers him security.

“I wanted a backup plan in case the racing doesn’t work out,” said Blok. “Even if the racing works out, a lot of drivers’ careers at a professional level tend to be finished by (age) 35 or 40.”

But Blok still has the goal of being a Formula One racer. Canada hasn’t had a racer at that level since Jacques Villeneuve left the sport in 2006.

He said he knows that the odds are against him financially.

“Formula One is a lot harder to get to than anywhere else. I’ve competed against people who are multimillionaires, that just throw money at (racing) like there’s no tomorrow. Unless you get the right people behind you, it’s very difficult to get that to happen.”

But Blok said he plans to persevere through the challenges in front of him.

“I’ve already survived longer in this sport than a lot of people thought I would. So to (those who would) say that F1 is not possible for me, I would like to prove them wrong.”