A team of employees from Avon Protection, based in Melksham, won the national Red Bull Soapbox Race.
Avon Protection’s team, GasGasGas, first competed in the Red Bull Soapbox Race in 2017 where they rolled into a very respectable 14th place out of 75 teams. This year their story continued and their application impressed the judges so much, that they were selected to take part in the 2019 Red Bull Soapbox Race at Alexandra Palace in London on the 7th July and went on to become champions with a first place finish.
This year, Team GasGasGas comprised of seven employees from Avon Protection. Willy’s Jeep Ratrod inspired this year’s design, with the original Willy Jeep in service in the early 1940s which was commonly used in World War II.
Team GasGasGas raced down the 450-metre course at Alexandra Palace, cheered on by a crowd of 20,000 people, including Avon Protection employees and their families. The team was super excited to take part in this international event, in which amateur drivers race homemade unpowered vehicles down a track featuring ramps and chicanes.
Jack Alexander from the team said, “I’m still in awe about GasGasGas’ achievement, a combination of robust design, technical knowledge and a smashing run. What really helped us was re-using the chassis from 2017, this allowed us to focus on the bodywork and design, to help bring in the creativity points.
“I would like to thank everyone who supported us in our journey, came to watch us race and for giving me the opportunity to sit in poll position, a big weight on my shoulders but I’m glad I didn’t disappoint!”
Nick Hunter, team captain added, ‘“What an amazing weekend! From the point we heard we’d been selected to take part, we had 90 days until race day. The engine, with moving Red Bull can pistons, really drew in the crowds and scored us some creativity points with the judges, so a big thank you to Seb and Phil for engineering that. Jonny was in charge of directing our start line performance which also went down well with the judges and Jack was fearless with his drive, catching some impressive air over the ramps.
“We knew we’d put on a show to be proud of, but didn’t expect to win at all. I look forward to entering it again in two years’ time to defend our title!”
Check out Team GasGasGas’s spectacular winning run at: https://twitter. com/RedBull UK/status/11479433670 67574275
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