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] Also there were no races in Jamaica until 2007, which was the 36th race. The 40th race was the first in Northern Ireland in 2008. The first race in Colombia was the 48th race much later in 2009.

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]

Notable participants

In 2008, a team from Queen's University Belfast set the world speed record for soapbox racers at Stormont, Northern Ireland, at 72 km/h (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/Region Entrants Winner Spectators Reference
1 30 April 2000 Brussels Belgium
2 September 2001 Roundhay Park Leeds United Kingdom 50 The Garage [8]
2 September 2001 800 metres Kurpark Oberlaa Vienna Austria
7 July 2002 750 metres Bern Switzerland 62 Kuhl Runnings
8 September 2002 Bochum Germany
30 March 2003 700 metres Auckland Domain Auckland New Zealand 80 Rubber Duck Racing 44,000
2004 Netherlands
20 June 2004 250 metres St Patrick's Hill Cork Ireland 63 Crazy Babies [4]
8 August 2004 650 metres Knebworth Park Stevenage United Kingdom 84 Team Volvet Underground
17 October 2004 445 metres Trematon Drive Durban South Africa 67 Team Flower Power [9]
2005 Lausanne Switzerland
2005 445 metres Trematon Drive Durban South Africa 70+
13 February 2005 700 metres Auckland Domain Auckland New Zealand 80 Wanganui Motors Transformers
18 September 2005 Schloss Solitude Stuttgart Germany
27 August 2006 Jan Smuts Avenue Johannesburg South Africa 54 [10]
24 September 2006 800 metres Kurpark Oberlaa Vienna Austria
35 29 October 2006 Forest Park St. Louis, Missouri United States 42 Fast Food
11 August 2007 Jamaica 43 The Pier One Team
30 September 2007 0.5 miles (800 m) Fremont Avenue to North 36th Street Seattle, Washington United States The A-Team [11]
14 October 2007 0.25 miles (400 m) College Hill Providence, Rhode Island United States 61 The Good, The Bad and The Nerdy (The Numerator 2.0) [12]
11 May 2008 Brussels Belgium
25 May 2008 Stormont Belfast Northern Ireland 47 Ruddell Metals [13]
8 June 2008 praia do Futuro Fortaleza (CE) Brazil 39 Elvis não morreu, bebeu! (Elvis did not die, drank!)
6 September 2008 550 metres Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States Deuces Wild
7 September 2008 West 4th Avenue Vancouver, British Columbia Canada [14]
21 September 2008 400 metres corrida em Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (RS) Brazil 29 Gangster's Team Gravity Race
4 October 2008 Cincinnati, Ohio United States
25 October 2008 Denver, Colorado United States
29 August 2009 10th Street, Piedmont Park Atlanta, Georgia United States Yongsa Dragon Breath
6 September 2009 Medellin Colombia
26 September 2009 Grand Ave. and 5th Street Los Angeles, California United States Ironheade 105000
18 October 2009 Sacher Park Jerusalem Israel
24 September 2010 Diepkloof Xtreme Park Soweto South Africa 50+ Team Zooma
6 November 2010 Fundidora park Monterrey Mexico
23 April 2011 Estrada da Rainha Balneário Camboriú (SC) Brazil
23 May 2011 Los Angeles, California United States 38 The Lakers Fanwagon 115000 [15]
12 June 2011 Zagreb Croatia
3 July 2011 Stockholm Sweden
25 September 2011 Parque Nacional de Bogota Bogota Colombia 60
2 October 2011 Praça do Papa Belo Horizonte (MG) Brazil Red Bule Uai Sô
21 November 2011 Santiago Chile 68
5 May 2012 380 metres Brussels Belgium 85 Toga Max 2
10 June 2012 10th Street, Piedmont Park Atlanta, Georgia United States 36 SweetWater [16]
16 September 2012 Austin Ranch Dallas, Texas United States 40 Oregon Trail [17]
23 September 2012 Warsaw Poland 80
15 October 2012 To Shek Street, Ma On Shan Hong Kong China 42 [18]
2 December 2012 Mumbai India 50
19 April 2013 Muscat Oman No Flying Yolk
14 July 2013 500 metres Halde Hoheward Herten Germany 68 Zeitrider 55,000
14 July 2013 420 meters Alexandra Palace London United Kingdom 70 SpitPhya [1][3]
25 August 2013 Nygårdsparken Bergen Norway
29 September 2013 Taipei National University of the Arts Taipei Taiwan [19]
11 November 2013 Buenos Aires Argentina
13 November 2013 700 metres Auckland Domain Auckland New Zealand Team Zoom Car Wash
6 April 2014 400 metres La Heradura Lima Peru 52 Rapidos Y Sabrosos 25,000
15 June 2014 Parc Saint Cloud Paris France 50 Rugbyman en Folie 38,000
24 August 2014 Yesler Way Seattle, Washington United States 36 Nickerson Street Saloon Rainier Rocket [20]
14 September 2014 Amfiteatrul Mihai Eminescu Bucharest Romania 51 Vegetarian Cannibals
28 September 2014 National Palace of Culture Sofia Bulgaria
28 September 2014 500 metres IFSC Headquarters Turin Italy 61 Let There Be Rock 40,000
16 May 2015 350 metres Cauberg Hill Valkenburg Netherlands 60 Der Mergelvreters [7][21]
12 July 2015 420 metres Alexandra Palace London United Kingdom 65 Absolute Radio Breakfast Club [22]
99 29 August 2015 1,500 feet (460 m) Eden Park Cincinnati, Ohio United States 41 Peep My Ride [23]
100 4 September 2015 Amman Jordan
101 6 September 2015 300 metres Beaver Hall Hill Montreal, Quebec Canada 45 The Docs (Back to the Future) 25,000 [24]
102 20 September 2015 400 metres Goiânia (GO) Brazil
103 24 October 2015 1,200 feet (370 m) North Ave, Old Fourth Ward Atlanta, Georgia United States The Grease Monkeys [25]
31 October 2015 Montjuïc Barcelona Spain 70 TMC Men in Blue
15 November 2015 Centennial Parklands Sydney Australia
22 November 2015 700 metres Auckland Domain Auckland New Zealand Red Stag Hunters
5 June 2016 St Patrick's Hill Cork Ireland 60+ Jumbo Breakfast Roll [26]
3 September 2016 Colina Park Cluj-Napoca Romania 41 [27]
11 September 2016 Atizapán Mexico City Mexico Chile en Papas de Calabaza
9 October 2016 Baku Azerbaijan
13 November 2016 Buddh International Circuit New Delhi India
13 November 2016 Hiranandani Gardens in Powai Mumbai India 50 The Other Guys
27 November 2016 Calle Talinay, La Reina Santiago Chile Calcetin Con Rombosman [28]
9 July 2017 Alexandra Palace London United Kingdom Brooklands Special
19 August 2017 Helsinki Finland
19 August 2017 350 metres Cauberg Hill Valkenburg Netherlands 70 Return of the Legend
20 August 2017 The Botanical Garden Aarhus Denmark
20 August 2017 Elysian Park Los Angeles, California United States 61 1st) OJ and the White Bronco, 2nd) The Swamp Monkeys
10 September 2017 410 metres Mont-de-l’Enclus Kluisbergen Belgium 70 Pattyn Packing Lines
10 September 2017 la rue d'Ouchy Lausanne Switzerland 70 The Fly
24 September 2017 Palace of the Republic Almaty Kazakhstan
1 October 2017 National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan Taipei Taiwan
1 October 2017 Parc Saint Cloud Paris France 51 Drum Team
23 October 2017 Yomiuriland Amusement Park Tokyo Japan
24 June 2018 500 metres Villa Borghese Rome Italy
8 September 2018 1,500 feet (460 m) Eden Park Cincinnati, Ohio United States The Sea Cowboys (aka the Swamp Monkeys)
9 September 2018 Parque Eduardo Sétimo Lisbon Portugal The Mean Machine
7 July 2019 420 metres Alexandra Palace London United Kingdom 59 Gas Gas Gas 20000
28 September 2019 The Colony Ranch The Colony, Texas United States Skeeter Done, (aka the Swamp Monkeys)

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[18]), 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.[12] A People's Choice Award is given to the audience's favorite team.[12] 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"[13] 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.[15] Previewing the 2015 London event, the Evening Standard described the series as a global phenomena.[3] Reviewing the 2015 Montreal event, the Montreal Gazette said the races were not for the faint hearted, even for spectators.[24]

gollark: > Alternatively, a regular language can be defined as a language recognized by a finite automaton.okay yes this is actually useful.
gollark: > In theoretical computer science and formal language theory, a regular language (also called a rational language[1][2]) is a formal language that can be expressed using a regular expressionhow helpful.
gollark: As in "regular languages"? It's a CS thing, I don't actually know what it means.
gollark: *Regular* expressions can't do that.
gollark: Also the weird HTML5 thing where you can *sort of* self-close tags in tables and whatnot.

References
  1. 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.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. Hughes, C. J. (2007-10-21). "Soapbox Derby - Red Bull". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  3. "Tally ho! Red Bull Soapbox Race 2015 headed for Alexandra Palace". 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  4. "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. "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. "No horse but Flower Power at box cart race". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  10. "Fast and frikken ridiculous in Soweto". travelstart blog. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  11. "Red Bull energy drink brings iconic soapbox races to Fremont | The Falcon". www.thefalcononline.com. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  12. Tyagi, Hari (2007-10-15). "Soapbox cars race down College Hill". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  13. "Soapbox derby brings out the daring and the daft". www.newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  14. "Red Bull Soapbox Race Makes First-Ever Canadian Pit Stop in Vancouver". Newswire Canada. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  15. 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.
  16. EndPlay (2012-06-11). "Red Bull Soap Box Derby features crazy cars, racers". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  17. "Ridiculously-dressed teams, cars falling apart at Red Bull Soapbox Race". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  18. Soapbox racing takes off in Hong Kong, retrieved 2016-08-10
  19. https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/2013/09/30/soap-box-racers-compete-in-taiwan/2894735/
  20. "Red Bull Soapbox Race 2014". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  21. South, Holland Expat Center. "Red Bull Soapbox Race". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  22. "Red Bull Soapbox Race: Dozens of home-made vehicles compete in madcap". 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  23. Harrington, Ashley. "'Peep My Ride' wins 99th Red Bull Soapbox Race in Eden Park". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  24. "The meek will not inherit the world of Red Bull". 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  25. "Greenville team wins soapbox race". Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  26. "More than 30,000 spectators for Red Bull Soapbox spectacular". 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  27. "Cluj: 41 de vehicule artizanale inedite în concursul Red Bull Soapbox Race". Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  28. "Red Bull Soapbox Race Santiago 2016". 2016-11-27. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
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