Over 15,000 turn out to cheer on Stockport’s first soapbox derby

Over 15,000 people lined the streets of Stockport town centre to cheer on the town’s first soapbox derby, Krazy Races, on Sunday 28th May.

Thirty local teams made up of businesses, charities, and independent teams designed, built and raced their hand made soapboxes, powered by nothing more than gravity and the cheers from thousands of local spectators.

The overall winners taking first place were ‘The Stairshop Boys’, a local business team from The StairShop. They made it down the 180 metre track in an impressive 22.98 seconds, despite only having two weeks from deciding to enter, with their soapbox car built just days before the event.

Mike Lomax from The Stair Shop said:

“A fantastic day was had by all and I just want to say thank you to everyone that came to support us and a special thank you to Paul who spent some long evenings with me last week building our Kart. We will be back next year to defend our title.”

Narrowly missing out on the top spot was  ‘Motor Move & The Movettes’ with a time of 24.41 seconds followed by Dove Valley Senders in Third place with a time of 24.56 seconds.

In addition to the top three, Trophies were also handed out for the Best Krazy Designed Kart, presented by Headline Charity ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’  to business team ‘Landscaping Direct’.

The Main Sponsors Choice Award was won by ‘Sloth 7 to 70’ and presented by Tony Murray, on behalf of Headline sponsor Totally Stockport BID Company.

The Most Entertaining Team of the Day as voted by the public went to The Crash Team and the Best Team Award, as voted by the teams themselves and presented by Stockport Deputy Mayor & Mayoress Elect, went to The Sk Bombardiers.

As well as trophies, all seven winning teams were treated to a crate of Beer from Trophy sponsors Robinson Brewery.

Organiser and founder of Krazy Races, Sarah Belcher said:

“This was our first event in Stockport and our first event of the 2023 season. We have been blown away by the incredible support and enthusiasm from the amazing people of Stockport. All our events are free to attend without tickets so we never know how many supporters to expect on the day but the 15,000+ estimated attendance has surpassed our expectations and the feedback in the hours since the event has finished has been nothing but positive which is all we could ask for.

“I need to say a huge thank you to the sponsors and supporters who make all of these events possible, and my team behind the scenes who work so hard to make it such a fantastic event. I would like to say a special thank you to our Headline sponsor Totally Stockport BID company who approached us and invited us to Stockport nearly two years ago.

“Congratulations to all the winners!”

Krazy Races will continue their season in Swansea on Sunday 18th June before returning to the North west on Sunday 16th July in Northwich. They will then visit Wolverhampton City Centre on Monday 28th August and finish the season in style in Lancaster’s Williamson Park.