Community · Story · 8 min read
Soap Box Racing for Walthew House
While working at Nexperia I volunteered for the 2023 Stockport Krazy Races soapbox community event, where me and our team of 5 helped spotlight Walthew House, the local charity supporting people who are deaf or blind. Race day was packed with imaginative carts, we crossed the line 7th of 43, and it was a fantastic day out for a great cause.
Building the Soapbox
We built the cart in spare evenings with a tight budget and only a few months before race day. That meant handling everything in-house—sketching the design, building the shell, sanding, painting, testing, and branding—before it could be trailered to the start line.
To keep momentum, we settled quickly on a monocoque shell inspired by a bullet nose, which conveniently echoed an F1 profile. I translated the idea into a simple CAD mock-up so the marketing team could lock in colours, sponsor placement, and decals, giving us a plan we could stick to when build time got hectic.
Materials came from wherever we could find them. Wheels were repurposed from donated bikes, the chassis used pallets and crates from Nexperia deliveries, and Popup Bikes came in cluch with the spare and replacement bike parts we needed.
I was genuinely proud of how the cart turned out — the clean lines, the proportions, the overall look felt right. But as race day loomed, a quiet doubt started to creep in. We weren’t entirely sure whether the wheel mounts would hold up under load, but by that point, it was too late to go back and rework the design. There was no time for testing or analysis — it was the night before the race, and all we could do was trust our build and hope it would hold together on the day.
Race Day
The nerves were flying high the morning of the event. 43 contestents had entered and their carts were very impressive. equally, the spectator turnout was spectacular. Thousands came in support, as covered by Krazy Races.
It was a time trail event where the quickest down the hill would win. by the time in came for us to set our first time, it was a blisteringly hot day with the sun beaming down at us.
The first run was a cautious sighting lap to learn the route. When the time flashed up, our driver was convinced the cart had more pace in it. I kept reminding him to stay safe, but he trusted what we’d built and wanted another go at full tilt.
On the second run the cart absolutely flew—fast enough that for a split second I thought we owned the hill. The final corner disagreed; the inside axle flexed, robbed us of a few seconds, and revealed a weak point we hadn’t stress-tested.
That flexing axle meant we coasted across the finish instead of sprinting through it, so the podium was out. We had only minutes to wrench the bike wheel straight enough for a third run, and every second in the pit felt louder than the course itself.
The repair stop became its own spectacle—crowds ringed the pit wall cheering while we levered the axle back into line, and a few even offered spare tools. Somehow we hammered the wheel straight with seconds to spare and sent the cart out for a final charge.
We finished 7th overall — a fantastic result for a first-time entry. Although we didn’t win, the experience was immensely rewarding. Seeing our design perform under real conditions, surrounded by so much energy and creativity, made all the effort worthwhile. It was a great day out for a great cause, and we left already talking about how to improve the next build.
