Wacky racers signal start of new year in spectacular style

DO-it-yourself racers let the good times roll to signal the start of the new year in a West Yorkshire village yesterday.

A dozen teams of karting pairs clambered in to their homemade ‘soap box racers’ for the fifth annual Sharslton Soap Box Derby.

The event was hailed a major success, despite the odd crash and lost wheel as competitors sped down the race course at the Green in the village near Wakefield.

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More than 1,000 spectators lined the streets to witness the spectacle, which is held every year to raise cash for a village community fund.

The youngest competitors travelled from Wales to take part in yesterday’s event.

Eight-year-old Anthony Pritchard and his sister Eleri, seven, were crowned winners of the junior section of the race.

Sharlston farmer Ian Bulmer, 39 and fellow racer Russell Kaye, 21, won first prize in the adult section after taking the chequered flag in their cart called “Road Rage”. They donated their first prize of £100 back to the village community fund.

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Second was a three-wheeled cart in the shape of a canoe, which was driven by 18-year-old team mates Leah Palmer and Abbey Spencer.

They finished with a podium place despite having to carry out running repairs after crashing.