‘I was temporarily blinded’: Supercar Blondie takes on ‘terrifying’ Red Bull Soapbox Race
Published on Jul 04, 2022 at 5:52 PM (UTC+4)
by Kate Bain
Last updated on Jul 04, 2022 at 6:53 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The Supercar Blondie team has won the People’s Choice award for its performance at the Red Bull Soapbox Race 2022.
The team, led by Alex Hirschi, went down the hill at Alexandra Palace in London in a futuristic concept car inspired by the Tesla Cybertruck.
Hirschi said the experience was “pretty terrifying”, and if the photos are anything to go by, she’s not wrong.
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The Supercar Blondie team was one of more than 70 teams of drivers and crew from across the world to compete at this year’s event.
Each crew needed to design and create their own soapbox – a go-kart without an engine – and race it down the hill – jumping it over ramps and avoiding hazards along the way.
The team was number 51 to compete on the day, so Hirschi said there was a lot of time to watch the other competitors take to the course beforehand.
“Watching the teams go down before me, I was pretty confident I could go faster, so my strategy was not to brake the whole way down,” she said.
If you’ve ever watched the race, and know just how steep it is, that’s a pretty daring strategy.
And unsurprisingly, that changed once she and teammates Sergi Galiano, Nathan Bain, and Nik Hirschi actually hit the track.
Check out these photos from the Red Bull Soapbox Race 2022!
“It was pretty terrifying on the way down when you’re going over jumps at 50km/h with no seatbelts and no way of knowing if your soapbox would fall apart or not,” she said.
“There was a moment after the first jump when Sergi came flying out of his seat and used my head to get back in.
“I was temporarily blinded and didn’t know where I was going.
“Approaching the last jump we were going about 55km/h. We nose-dived off the ramp and lost our brakes and whatever else was left of our soapbox! It was terrifying but a lot of fun.”
CHECK THIS OUT!
She’s not exaggerating.
When the team nose-dived off the ramp, the entire body came flying off the soapbox.
If nothing else, it was dramatic.
Competitors were judged in two categories, their performance on the podium and their speed going down the hill.
Go Go Gadget won first place at the Red Bull Soapbox Race this year for its awesome performance and speed down the hill.
And Supercar Blondie won the only other award, People’s Choice, getting 10% of the total vote.
The Supercar Blondie team spent four months designing the soapbox and preparing for the race before travelling from Dubai to London to compete.
The concept was designed by the team in-house but the actual soapbox was built with help from DT Motorsport Engineering and The Paint Box.
The end result was nothing short of a masterpiece.
It was totally custom-made with a chassis, four gas suspensions, disc brakes, a go-kart steering wheel, go-kart seats, and bicycle wheels.
The soapbox was covered with foam board and a chrome wrap.
Then, to finish the look, two massive retractable wings were added, because of course, Red Bull gives you wings.
The finished version came together with the help of luxury watchmaker Franck Muller Encrypto – which is dropping its NFT mystery box collection this month.
In these mystery boxes you can win real Franck Muller timepieces like the one Alex Hirschi wore on the day.
Photos and video footage from the day are hilarious.
In some, you can practically see the souls leaving racers’ bodies as they flew over the ramps.
Now the countdown is on for next year’s race.
Keep an eye on Supercar Blondie’s socials for the video and all the behind-the-scenes footage!
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Kate Bain is the Page Editor at supercarblondie.com. She is based in Dubai and coordinates coverage of the latest news across automotive, technology, and lifestyle. Kate has a bachelor's degree in business and post graduate in journalism. She is an experienced editor and journalist who has worked for News Corp, Daily Mail Australia, and Sky News. When she's not at work, you'll find her attached at the hip to her dog, Thor.
