With the Red Bull Soapbox Race UK 2015 taking place in London earlier this month, those gravity-powered racers based on a simple box design have been top of mind in the Motors.co.uk office.
Doing all the hard work – so you don’t have to! – we’ve pulled together a selection of our top five soapbox racer videos from Alexandra Palace to share in the thrills and spills from these impressive (and sometimes chaotic) machines.
1. It goes without saying that the Absolute Radio ‘Breakfast Club’ team, which took top spot at this years’ event, delivered a great show. Starting at the top of the hill as the A-Team van, before shape-shifting into the Dukes of Hazzard’s car and finishing the course as a silver DeLorean, the soapbox pleased the crowd and delivered a very quick time.
2. We love this on-board footage from the ‘Improved Rocket’ team which shows just how quick the course can be and how much impact those jumps have – and all without an engine. Watch out for those hay bales though!
3. The ‘Charlotte Dumbed Down’ was a real crowd pleaser, although if the boat had been on the open waves then it wouldn’t have lasted long, ditching most of the soapbox casing on the way down the hill.
4. Another GoPro point of view, Time Out London’s ‘Captains of Gindustry’ might not marry with our views about drink driving – it shook up a gin cocktail as it went over the ramps! – but it was certainly fun to watch. The brakes gave out halfway down the course leading to a high-speed crash into the hay at the finishing line, but that’s all part of the soapbox fun!
5. Finally, don’t say we never give you anything. Courtesy of Red Bull, here are all of best crashes from Alexandra Palace. From minions and bananas to bruised mummies, boats and cars with stability problems and a steampunk mechanical bull that failed to stay upright, these creative racers certainly know how to pack a punch… and a roll and a smash!
If you could build a soapbox racer, what would you do? Let us know your themes and ideas over on Facebook and if you’ve already built one, we’d love to see a video of it in action (tested safely of course!).
