Do it yourself racers let the good times roll to signal the start of the New Year in a West Yorkshire village.
A dozen teams of karting pairs clambered in to their homemade ‘soap boxes’ 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.
More than 1,000 spectators lined the streets to witness the spectacle, which is organised 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 he 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 kindly donated their first prize of £100 back to the village community fund.
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 and losing a wheel during the race.
Competitors, who had spent months constructing their colourful soap boxes, entered in the hopes of winning a cash prize as well as raising money to go towards the village community fund.
Organiser Andrew Palmer said he expects the event to raise around £1,000 for the fund.
Mr Palmer added: “It was a very good race this year. We were chuffed to bits because the rain held off.”
For more details on the event, log onto: www.sharlstonsoapboxderby.co.uk
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