LARGE amounts of skill and nerves of steel, rather than turbochargers and heavily modified engines, determined the winners of the Port Shepstone Thompson Nissan Soap Box Festival.
The event brought out the competitor in everybody as teams of homemade soap box racers competed against each other to be named the fastest and most creative cars in thrilling races at the Dezzi South Coast Raceway last Sunday.
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The objective of the event was to create a spirit of fair and honest competition among the competitors, help build team spirit and encourage engineering skills and handicraft.
As was the case last year, this second annual soapbox festival has already proven to be a huge hit with both youngsters and older racers alike.
Young and old had great fun ‘racing’ their homemade ‘speedsters’ in every shape and form while spectators lined the raceway hoping for thrills and spills.
Clive Thompson of Thompson Nissan said that he had heard positive comments on the event. ‘Soapboxing’ has become popular throughout the world and one only has to Google the word to see how it has also caught on in South Africa.
The number of spectators continues to grow. “We always get a big crowd here,” he explained. “Everyone just seems to like to see the colourful soap boxes. We had more interactive stuff for a wider range of the demographic, from car displays to food to music.”
Clive gave a tip of the hat to Desmond Gutzeit who obviously needs to be thanked for allowing the use of his track. Desmond said that he liked the excitement.
“It was an all-round fun atmosphere. The raceway is already famous in the motoring world and it was an ideal stretch for the free-wheeling soap boxes.” He said what he enjoyed most was watching the children enjoying the event.
Winners in the various categories included;
Mini Movers – Ruben van Reenen (first), Aarav Maharaj (second) and Noah Bahlman (third).
Pre-open – Devon Clark (first), Aiden Higson (second) and Andrew Bremmer (third).
Novelty – OJ Engelbrecht (first), Marius Stander (second) and Hubert Scheepers (third).
Open division – Devon Clark (first), M Bray (second) and Reegan Booker (third).
Novely vehicles – MacSharp Timbers (first), Southbroom Wooden Homes (second) and New Holland/Als Transport (third).
Trophy challenge – Devon Clark (first), Andrew Thompson (second) and Clive Thompson (third).
With this year’s event behind them, organisers are turning their focus to putting on an even bigger soap box festival next year. For more photos click onto www.southcoastherald.co.za.
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