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On Sunday, Alexandra Palace was full of Soapbox-racing nutters. And we were one of them. Like everyone else, our team spent months and months hacking and sawing and hacksawing until we had a vehicle. And then spent ages creating nutty costumes to race them in. The point? One glorious minute of adrenaline-packed racing while 20,000 spectators whooped their approval. And, frankly, it was worth every second. The Time Out entry was a mobile cocktail-creating machine, whose on-board cocktail shaker shook up the drinks as the car launched itself over ramps. Combined with the event's Industrial Revolution theme, we called ourselves: The Captains of Gindustry. Our brakes gave out halfway down the course meaning that we had no choice but to stop ourselves via a high-speed crash into a hay bale at the finish line, thus shooting our editor-at-large across the tarmac. But you don't need to take our word for it. Scroll down for videos of our exploits and loads of photos of other participants.
Here's some (slightly shaky) bystander footage of our entry ('WE HAVE AN EJECTION!'):
Almost as dramatic is the GoPro footage, in which you can see our editor-at-large tumble past the camera at about 50 seconds:
We chatted to these real-life RAF pilots from the Brize Norton base a lot (their gaffer tape held a lot of our vehicle together). They were lovely. They also rigged up their vehicle so that the wings would fall off at the slightest impact, so it looked like they were driving (their words) 'a giant rhino's cock'.
Red Bull
The guys behind this beast were also very, very nice. Their entry was called 'The Mechanical Steampunk Bull'. The driver had a button he could press to make the bull raise its head and snort out massive jets of steam.
Red Bull
These dudes from the North made a gigantic black pudding for a stag do.
Doug Peters/PA Wire
In the morning, this Welsh entry was eagerly tweeting Tom Jones for his support. On stage, they were a sensation. In the race…? Yeah, lasted about ten seconds.
Doug Peters/PA Wire
A group of Asda workers created a mobile supermarket till. Their entry's name? 'Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area'.
Doug Peters/PA Wire
These guys were genuinely ambulance workers.
Doug Peters/PA Wire
This lot genuinely built the Shard and the London Eye:
Doug Peters/PA Wire
And these jokers were genuine aliens (they weren't):
Doug Peters/PA Wire
There were some ridiculous crashes…
Doug Peters/PA Wire
Doug Peters/PA Wire
Doug Peters/PA Wire
There were some excellent attempts to sprint down the track on foot:
Doug Peters/PA Wire
Doug Peters/PA Wire
There were some cars that spectacularly fell apart:
Doug Peters/PA Wire
Doug Peters/PA Wire
There were people catching some incredible air over the ramps:
Doug Peters/PA Wire
Doug Peters/PA Wire
Doug Peters/PA Wire
Oh, and then there were these idiots…
Doug Peters/PA Wire
The end.
Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.
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