T&A kart for Bradford’s Super Soapbox Challenge built by Bradford College 

THE finishing touches are being made to a dedicated Telegraph & Argus kart for Bradford’s first Super Soapbox Challenge.

More than 20 teams have signed up for the soapbox racing and organisers are expecting some whacky themes and amazing, off-the-wall contraptions to compete.

Among the karts will be Bradford College's bold and sustainably made soapbox racer, designed and made by students for the T&A.

Construction itself was undertaken by eight lucky students while a further two classes were involved in the kart's design, quality checks and the sourcing of materials.

Bradford College students get to work on the T&A soapbox racer.

Despite supply chain issues throwing a spanner in the works, students and teachers brought their vision to life in just a matter of weeks.

In a bid to win, the kart features a heavy grade steel box section welded together, full steering column, proper disc brakes, strong tyres and a fibreglass body.

Greg O'Shea, head of construction and engineering at Bradford College, told the T&A: "We've been able to recycle from a fairground ride. It actually looks like Herbie, it looks like a Beetle.

"The ideal for building this would have been aluminium. But if we did that we would have had to order new materials. What we decided to do was build it with steel that's been recycled from other projects and just keep things being reused and reused."

Describing the project's impact, he said: "Racing a soapbox car down a big hill in Bradford is all about fun. It's about making it a really great day for all the families coming out in Bradford."

He added: "That's got 16 year old people that have never left Bradford thinking about their impact on the world, what they may become when they've done their degree, what jobs are they going to go into to make the world a better place. What is Bradford's place in the country? That's the bit that's supporting the [City of Culture] bid.

"There's so much cool stuff going on and all these kids have started to believe they can make a difference. They've always believed they can become a qualified electrician, plumber, but now they think when they've got that far they can do something good."

Internationally renowned welder Tony Carter, who brought in the college's level one welding students to help, has been leading the build of the chassis.

"My students have loved the opportunity to help build the T&A soapbox car," he said.

"We split into teams to do the design and made a competition out of it – the energy and enthusiasm was brilliant and it really brought what we’ve been learning about to life."

Bahesa took on the role as lead designer after her team of fellow students won the competition with detailed designs completed to a high professional standard.

When it came to building the steering and braking systems, it was over to John Hughes, the project manager for Team Bradford, and his motor vehicle students.

Mr Carter said: "We don’t do things by halves at Bradford, so when we heard Tony’s engineering students were building the chassis – we knew we’d need some heavy duty braking and steering to make it a winning racing car. 

"We took things back to the old school."

Sara, Junaid and Alistair got their hands dirty with disc brakes.

"We’re definitely going to win," Junaid confidently promised.

Steve Smith, curriculum manager for sustainable construction and engineering innovation at Bradford College, said: "Our students never cease to amaze us at how ready they are for work.

"We put this type of challenge in front of them and the way they immediately jump onto it with enthusiasm and professionalism is something that keeps us all inspired.

"Our welding students are part of the Lincoln Welding Academy and our Motor Vehicle students are part of the Halfords Academy here at Bradford College so they get a lot of work experience and placements that prepare them for their future jobs – but these fun projects are a great way of giving them some responsibility and getting them used to working at pace and to deadlines, just like in industry."