From high-tech to high jinks: Guildford innovation hub turns car park into lunchtime racetrack

A man in a shower cap driving a bathtub on wheels, engineering students racing a kart with cardboard antlers and space engineers putting gravity to the test. All part of the spectacle at Surrey Research Park's first-ever Soapbox Derby!

For one lunchtime only, on Wednesday 4 November, the University of Surrey team behind one of the UK's leading innovation business hubs transformed its visitor car park into a 75-metre, hay-bale-lined racetrack, complete with bunting, for around an hour of good old-fashioned analogue fun.

Surrey's very own Silverstone? Not quite! An aerial view of the visitor car park outside Surrey Research Park's flagship Surrey Technology Centre, transformed into a 75-metre, hay-bale-lined racetrack for an hour of good old-fashioned analogue fun. | LLM

placeholder image — Surrey's very own Silverstone? Not quite! An aerial view of the visitor car park outside Surrey Research Park's flagship Surrey Technology Centre, transformed into a 75-metre, hay-bale-lined racetrack for an hour of good old-fashioned analogue fun. | LLM

Four teams competed in homemade, gravity-powered racing karts, cheered on by around 130 spectators, including Park employees, local residents and visitors from the nearby hospital.

And the racing was surprisingly quick! Park-based medical diagnostics company Optima Medical, competing as Team Optima Prime, took the trophy in a makeshift, trolley-like racer built from a wooden platform, three bicycle wheels and a rear push bar.

Having only confirmed they were ready to race 48 hours before the event, the team completed their winning second run in just 13.12 seconds, averaging almost 13mph.

Tim Godman, driver for the winning team, said:

A once-in-a-lunchtime spectacle! Around 130 spectators from Surrey Research Park's innovation community and the wider Guildford area came together to enjoy the Park's first-ever Soapbox Derby. | University of Surrey

“I’d like to say our win was down to engineering excellence and careful planning, but it was thrown together over a few weeks, and we pointed it downhill and got pushed really, really hard.”

Among the competitors were Team Mini Stags, University of Surrey engineering students competing in their first soapbox race in a stag-themed kart, sponsored by British Land.

From bathtubs to supercars

Alongside the racing, visitors enjoyed Surrey IN Motion, a small automotive showcase celebrating Surrey's motorsport heritage and engineering innovation.

From Formula Student racing cars to bathtubs on bicycle wheels! Serious engineering meets good old-fashioned analogue fun at Surrey Research Park's first-ever Soapbox Derby, complete with rubber ducks and bubbles. | LLM

The display featured the Gordon Murray T.50 supercar and T4 heritage vehicle, alongside the University's ZEBRA autonomous vehicle research testbed and Formula Student racing car.

Jean Launberg, Strategy & Business Director at Gordon Murray Group, also joined the Soapbox Derby as technical judge, offering tongue-in-cheek feedback on the racing. He declared Team Optima Prime Surrey Research Park's first-ever Soapbox Derby Champions and presented them with the trophy.

Ben Wilson, Head of Communications at Surrey Research Park, who conceived the idea and led the event, said:

“We wanted to do something a little different and fun this autumn. Surrey has such a rich history of motorsport and engineering innovation, and we wanted to celebrate that in our own, if unconventional, way.

Lunch hour over! But before everyone headed back to work, there was just time for a group photo with all four teams and the organisers of Surrey Research Park's first-ever Soapbox Derby. | LLM

“Our biggest challenge was turning a busy, working research park into a racetrack for an hour without disrupting the businesses around us. It took a lot of planning, but seeing the teams racing their homemade karts and people from across the Park and local community coming together for some lunchtime fun was phenomenal and made it all worthwhile.”

The inaugural event was delivered in collaboration with British Land.

Established in 1985, Surrey Research Park has spent more than 40 years supporting pioneering technology companies. Its former residents include Lionhead Studios, where Sir Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google DeepMind, worked on artificial intelligence in video games.

But in all those years, the Park had never hosted anything quite like a Soapbox Derby!