With a need for speed and individual expression high on the agenda, it was no surprise that Colombia’s first Red Bull Soap Box race was a big hit all round.
A 30,000-strong crowd lined the route of the ‘Red Bull Balineras’ as it meandered down from the usually sleepy hillside town of Pueblito Paisa on the outskirts of Medellín.
The pilots were given encouragement from start to finish as high-pitched whistles over banging drums accompanied the screech of brakes and the occasional spill onto the tarmac.
The duty of Master of Ceremonies was served by a trio of Colombian celebrities. Model Cony Camelo, plus television presenters Gustavo Blanco and Paulo Salazar, whipped the crowd into a frenzy as, one after another, the 70-strong field launched themselves onto the course.
The judges were well-placed for the take-offs, and then they followed the progress of each soap box – or balinera, literally meaning ‘ball-bearing’ in Spanish – on their monitors. The style points were handed out by European BMX champion Alejandro Caro, noted Colombian cyclist Javier Zapata, freefall BASE jumper Nicolas Lopez and catwalk queen Claudia Lozano.
One theme that ran through the day was the amount of trademark Colombian flair on display. Many of the balineras had been decked out in the national colours of Colombia, and a host of the pilots’ costumes were steeped in local folklore.
Teams such as La Chiva, Hoguimovil and A Bestia used the competition to really show off the different slant Colombia had to offer a Red Bull Soap Box race.
The day’s early pacesetters were El Necrobólito, with their robust yet rapid coffin car. El Necrobólito translates as ‘The Deathracers’, and the name certainly fitted in with their funereal theme. A zombie couple and pair of pallbearers launched their vehicle to its final resting place at the finish line. A rapid time was chalked up and the judges lavished the team with high marks for style.
Afterwards, El Necrobólito had to nibble nervously on their black thumbnails as they watched team after team go close to wrestling first place away from them.
Come the end of the day, the five-person team from Medellín had managed to hang on to top spot and took the plaudits of the crowd and their fellow competitors. Team captain Pedro Toro and the rest of El Necrobólito can now look forward to a trip to Mexico and ringside seats at Red Bull X-Fighters next year.
Second and third place went to Autobots and Pedro’s Submarine respectively. Both teams will not return to their home city of Bogotá empty-handed, however, as they were all awarded a day of high-speed thrills on a professional racetrack.
As an exhilarating day came to an end, it was clear that once again a Red Bull Soap Box race had left a lasting impression on both participants and onlookers.
It’s a near-certainty that a better and even bolder field of teams will be out in force when this event returns to Medellín next year.
El Necrobólito back from the dead in Medellín