UNITED KINGDOM: SOAP BOX RACING - Competitors in fancy dress race in soap box derby

Thirty-four teams of competitors, dressed in colourful costumes, took part in the second Hoar Cross Downhill race near Burton in England recently (December 29, 2005). The teams made their own soapbox racers and then launched them down a half-mile (0.8 km) course through the village of Hoar Cross on a suitably chilly day. The event was organised by a group of regulars at the Meynell Arms pub (bar) in the village as a way of raising money for charity. The 2005 event attracted over a thousand spectators, twice the 2004 audience, and looks set to become a regular fixture. One of the organisers, and a competitor, Jonathan Kearns said that the rules dictated that the cars must be homemade. The only technical specification was that the brakes must work. While many competitors were content to coast down the course waving at spectators, taking three minutes or more, there were other speed fiends who set out to set the fastest time possible. Eventual winners "Wrecked 'em Racing", driven by Time Male and Gareth Roe, was the fastest down the course in just 57 seconds. However they arrived at the bottom too fast for their rudimentary brakes and ended the run with bloodied noses after a spectacular crash. A quirky story.

ITN Source | January 10, 2006

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