Soap Box Race Report
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So we’d had Summer in April, I guess it served us right, organising a BBQ at Brands Hatch during the first week of Wimbledon. Inevitably the forecast was thundery showers, and it really wasn’t that warm either.
But Lotus enthusiasts are a hardy bunch, and turned up to the 2nd annual Lotus on Track summer BBQ, sponsored by Lipscomb Lotus, in their hundreds.
The first event was an evening track day on the Indy circuit, and while that was going on some of the Elise Trophy racers demonstrated their wet weather driving skills on the karting circuit. Interestingly this demonstration seemed to mostly involve driving across the grass and into the barriers, the first wet Elise Trophy race should certainly be interesting!
Once the track day was finished, we were ready for the event a lot of people had been looking forward to, the Soap Box race! The premise was simple, build a soap box – basically a 4-wheeled vehicle propelled only by gravity, launch yourself downhill from Druids, negotiate Graham Hill bend and get as far along Cooper Straight towards Surtees as possible. Entries would be judged on a combination of distance, driving skills, entertainment & design.
The 9 entries ranged from the really quite basic (e.g. Hans Baumhardt’s effort – more on that in a moment), through to Jez (ramming speed) Braker’s fearsome machine and ultimately the works entry from the Lotus factory. In the end it was judged that the latter really was cheating, and although (unsurprisingly) it did travel the furthest distance, it was excluded from the podium.
First up was Hans, some felt he had over compensated for the weight of his race car (well those S2s are a bit lardy) and was clearly adhering to Colin Chapman’s “add lightness” principle. Would he really launch himself down a (really rather steep) hill in what was basically a child’s toy? Well, sporting elbow pads and heavy boots (aka brakes) that’s exactly what he did, and a magnificent effort it was too, taking him down to and (to give him the benefit of the doubt) slightly round Graham Hill. The crowd went wild, the benchmark had been set!
One by one the Soap Box heroes risked life and limb (or at least a pretty nasty bruise or two) as they set off from Druids. Next up was Nigel Goater (aka Nipper) in his distinctive wedge-design soap box, followed by Maidstone Sports Cars’ 3-wheeler, Lee Champion (aka Furyblade) in his Cool Runnings machine (complete with dreadlocks), Andy Blacklock in SELOC’s rather agricultural entry, the lightweight (some would say flimsy) Club Lotus machine, Lipscomb Lotus’ smoking blue and yellow effort, then it was Jez (bodger) Braker’s turn.
Nigel Goater (aka Nipper)
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Maidstone Sports Cars
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Lee Champion (aka Furyblade)
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Andy Blacklock (aka Mr B)
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Club Lotus
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Lipscombe Lotus (driven by Steve Wentzell – aka Topoff)
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Just as the last soap box came to a halt, the heavens opened and we all scurried for the shelter of the Kentagon centre, where we tucked into the BBQ supplied by Lipscomb Lotus. The judges conferred and Jez was deservedly declared the winner, followed by MSC and Hans, who frankly must have got bonus point for being seriously bonkers!
A great evening’s entertainment, and congratulations to all the Soap Box racers, for (a) making the effort to build a machine, and (b) having the guts to race it! Also thanks to Lipscomb for providing the BBQ, Maidstone Sports Cars for bringing the Elise simulator along, Lotus Cars for the Goodwood Festival of Speed winning Soap Box, plus John Thorne & Steve Williams for the use of their vehicles and trailers to ferry the Soap Boxes around the circuit.
Look out for more Soap Box events in the future!
