Red Bull Soapbox Race

The Red Bull Soapbox Race is a soapbox race organised by the Red Bull company. First held in 2000, over a hundred races have been held in multiple countries around the world.

History

The inaugural event was held in Brussels in 2000.[1] Races have since been held across the globe, from South Africa to Australia.[1] It didn't arrive in the United States until 2006 (St. Louis), by which time 35 races had taken place.[2]

Rules

The vehicles must have steering and braking capability.[1] Teams are judged on both the time taken to complete the course, as well as creativity of their design and the showmanship of a performance at the start of the race, meaning the team with the fastest time is not necessarily the winner.[3]

Tracks

In the 2013 London race, one team reached a speed of over 50 kilometers per hour as they completed the 430 metre course in 33 seconds.[3] The Cork 2004 course down St. Patrick's Hill was the steepest ever used at the time.[4]

Participants

In 2008, a team from Queen's University Belfast set the world speed record for soapbox racers at Stormont, Northern Ireland, at 45 mph, before entering the vehicle, Equmes 1, into the Red Bull race at Stormont later in the week.[5][6]

Formula One driver Max Verstappen entered the 2015 Dutch race.[7]

Races

No. Date Course length Location City Country Entrants Winner Reference
1 2000 Brussels
2 September 2001 Roundhay Park Leeds United Kingdom 50 The Garage [8]
20 June 2004 250 metres St Patrick's Hill Cork Ireland 63 Crazy Babies [4]
35 29 October 2006 Forest Park St. Louis United States 42 Fast Food
30 September 2007 0.5 miles Fremont Avenue to North 36th Street Seattle, Washington United States A-Team [9]
14 October 2007 0.25 miles College Hill Providence, Rhode Island United States 61 The Good, The Bad and The Nerdy (The Numerator 2.0) [10]
25 May 2008 Stormont Belfast Northern Ireland Ruddell Metals [11]
2009 Atlanta, Georgia United States Yongsa Dragon Breath
23 May 2011 Los Angeles United States 38 [12]
10 June 2012 10th Street, Piedmont Park Atlanta, Georgia United States 36 SweetWater [13]
16 September 2012 Austin Ranch Dallas, Texas United States [14]
15 October 2012 Hong Kong China 42 [15]
14 July 2013 430 meters Alexandra Palaca London United Kingdom 70 Spit-Phya [1][3]
29 September 2013 Taipei Taiwan [16]
24 August 2014 Yesler Way Seattle, Washington United States 36 Nickerson Street Saloon Rainier Rocket [17]
October 2014 Bucharest Romania 51 Vegetarian Cannibals
16 May 2015 350 metres Cauberg Hill Valkenburg Netherlands [7][18]
5 June 2015 St Patrick's Hill Cork Ireland 60+ Jumbo Breakfast Roll [19]
12 July 2015 420 metres Alexandra Palaca London United Kingdom 65 Absolute Radio Breakfast Club [20]
99 29 August 2015 1,500 feet Eden Park Cincinnati, Ohio United States 41 Peep My Ride [21]
6 September 2015 Beaver Hall Hill Montreal Canada [22]
103 24 October 2015 1,200 feet Atlanta, Georgia United States [23]
3 September 2016 Colina Park Cluj-Napoca Romania 41 [24]

Prizes

The winners of events receive a trophy and various special prizes, such as a trip to the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix to meet Carlos Sainz (Hong Kong 2012[15]), a tour of the Red Bull Racing Factory, including a high performance track day (London 2013[1]). In the 2007 Providence race, the three highest scoring teams received trips.[10] A People's Choice Award is given to the audience's favorite team.[10] Prize money is also awarded for the best charity entrant - 5,000 Euros for the 2004 Cork race.[4]

Reception

In 2007, the New York Times contrasted the creative nature of the Red Bull series adult based teams, with the traditional American view of youth based Soap Box Derby, where design options were limited.[2] Reviewing the 2008 Belfast race, the News Letter related that it was "difficult to describe the quality of the lunacy on display"[11] Reviewing the 2011 Los Angeles event, the Huffington Post described it as a piece of rare wholesome fun so rare in modern-day big cities, and through the various designs and teams it showed creativity and the human spirit, with flashes of great ingenuity and engineering, and capturing the zeitgeist.[12] Previewing the 2015 London event, the Evening Standard described the series as a global phenomena.[3] Reviewing the 2015 Monteal event, the Montreal Gazette said the races were not for the faint hearted, even for spectators.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Editor, Emily Thomas Associate; News, Huffington Post Weird (2013-07-15). "PHOTOS: Soapbox Races Make An EPIC Comeback". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  2. 1 2 Hughes, C. J. (2007-10-21). "Soapbox Derby - Red Bull". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Tally ho! Red Bull Soapbox Race 2015 headed for Alexandra Palace". 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  4. 1 2 3 "Soapbox drivers didn't need any stimulants to fly without wings". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  5. ↑ "SOAP BOX DERBY. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  6. ↑ "Students break soapbox record". BBC. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  7. 1 2 "Formula 1 gossip: Button, Maldonado, Grosjean, Hakkinen". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  8. ↑ "Soap stars box clever at park wacky races". www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  9. ↑ "Red Bull energy drink brings iconic soapbox races to Fremont | The Falcon". www.thefalcononline.com. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  10. 1 2 3 Tyagi, Hari (2007-10-15). "Soapbox cars race down College Hill". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  11. 1 2 "Soapbox derby brings out the daring and the daft". www.newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  12. 1 2 Political, Wyatt Closs; Strategist, Pop Culture; Observer, Keen; www.bigbowlofideas.com, Voracious Consumer (2011-05-23). "2011 Red Bull Soapbox Race Designs -- Rate 'Em!". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  13. ↑ EndPlay (2012-06-11). "Red Bull Soap Box Derby features crazy cars, racers". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  14. ↑ "Ridiculously-dressed teams, cars falling apart at Red Bull Soapbox Race". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  15. 1 2 Soapbox racing takes off in Hong Kong, retrieved 2016-08-10
  16. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/2013/09/30/soap-box-racers-compete-in-taiwan/2894735/
  17. ↑ "Red Bull Soapbox Race 2014". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  18. ↑ South, Holland Expat Center. "Red Bull Soapbox Race". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  19. ↑ "More than 30,000 spectators for Red Bull Soapbox spectacular". 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  20. ↑ "Red Bull Soapbox Race: Dozens of home-made vehicles compete in madcap". 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  21. ↑ Harrington, Ashley. "'Peep My Ride' wins 99th Red Bull Soapbox Race in Eden Park". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  22. 1 2 "The meek will not inherit the world of Red Bull". 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  23. ↑ "Greenville team wins soapbox race". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  24. ↑ "Cluj: 41 de vehicule artizanale inedite în concursul Red Bull Soapbox Race". Retrieved 2016-09-03.

External links

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