Hyderabad played host to one of the most popular motorsport races globally — the Red Bull Soap Box Race. One of the quirkiest events in the world, the Soap Box race involves participants racing down a hill in home-built carts without an engine, while putting on an elaborate performance.
The term ‘Soap Box’ was coined by photographer Myron E Scott in 1933 when he photographed children racing down a hill in homemade carts that were made of soap crates. The essence of it is still true to date with carts being simple, although they no longer use soap crates to build them.
What adds to the show is the elaborate performance put on by participating teams and their costumes. This year, at the Hyderabad event, the competition saw 3,300 registrations from 23 different states across India, while 28 cars were finalised for the event.
This year’s event was won by the Hyderabad-based Kraken Wagen team, who also took home a fully paid Red Bull Racing F1 experience opportunity. Team Kin 2.0 from Mumbai took the second spot while Hyderabad-based Biryani ki Sawaari took third place.
The event also witnessed various celebrities, including Harith Noah, the first Indian to ever win a Dakar Rally (Rally 2 Class), Mira Erda, and Bengaluru-based Naser Al Azzeh and Vineeth “Beep” Kumar, AKA Jordindian. Overall, the event was a success and Red Bull conducting more races in the future is something fans will look out for.
