Thrills and spills at the 2022 Bideford Soapbox Derby

Thousands of people descended on Bideford on Sunday June 19 to enjoy the madness of the second Bideford Soapbox Derby.
60 teams attempted to tackle the dastardly course. The riders started at Grenville Street, raced down High Street flying over jumps and bumps before a sharp bend on the quay.
Bideford was nearly at capacity, with all the parking lots full and drivers pulling up for miles and walking to watch the action.

Event organizer Rebecca Frajbis-Edwards said: “This year’s derby went really well; it was fantastic and we are delighted. The support was amazing, we had people from all over to watch. It was such a great positive atmosphere, all the teams worked hard.
“We are so grateful to everyone who volunteered, family, friends and everyone else. We are happy to announce that we will be returning on June 18, 2023. We already have ten new teams signed up and I imagine we will have at least 30 or 40 more by next year.


“We would also like to extend a big thank you to the students at Bideford College who went above and beyond to help us.”
Third place went to last year’s trophy breakers Only Fools and His Horses, second place went to Beautiful Racer 3 and this year’s champions were Bideford Auto Services, aka Norfolk and Chance.


Psycho Billy Cadillac won the trophy for the most money raised and the best featured teams were Team Trev (Thomas the Tank Engine) and Daisy Chain.
The money raised from this fantastic event is still dwindling, but organizers are confident the total will top the incredible £10,000 raised for local charity ChemoHero in last year’s derby.









