Sunday 28 May saw a soapbox derby in the town centre hosted by Krazy Races which attracted over 15,000 spectators. 

Thirty teams made up of businesses, local charities, and independents each built a homemade soapbox cart, all of which were raced from St Peter's Square, past the Plaza building and then alongside the Merseyway shopping centre in timed runs.

Gravity, luck, and fast reactions were all that the intrepid drivers could rely on. 

The winners were the Stairshop Boys, a local business team from The StairShop, who made it down the 180 metre track in an impressive 22.98 seconds. In second place was Motor Move & the Movettes with a time of 24.41 seconds, whilst the Dove Valley Senders came third, clocking in at 24.56 seconds.     

Even Stockport Council ran a cart, with chief executive Caroline Simpson as co-pilot. In a statement on Twitter, she said: "A great Krazy Races day in Stockport - our council car came 15th, not bad, and some worthy competition!"  

Although it seems innocuous on a clear day, this road from St Peter's Square on Sunday hosted thousands of spectators and a masterclass in adrenaline (Image - Alasdair Perry)

Mike Lomaz of the winning Starishop Boys said: "A fantastic day was had by all and I just want to say thank you to everyone that came to support us and a special thank you to Paul who spent some long evenings with me last week building our Kart. We will be back next year to defend our title."

The Crash Team won the 'most entertaining' award, as voted by the public, whilst the best team award - as voted by the teams themselves and presented by Stockport Deputy Mayor & Mayoress Elect - went to The SK Bombardiers.

The event, hosted by Totally Stockport - Stockport's Business Improvement District (BID) - raised a great deal of money for charity, including the headline charity When You Wish Upon a Star. 

Sarah Belcher, organiser and founder of Krazy Races, said: "This was our first event in Stockport and our first event of the 2023 season. We have been blown away by the incredible support and enthusiasm from the amazing people of Stockport. 

"All our events are free to attend without tickets so we never know how many supporters to expect on the day but the 15,000+ estimated attendance has surpassed our expectations and the feedback in the hours since the event has finished has been nothing but positive which is all we could ask for. 

"I need to say a huge thank you to the sponsors and supporters who make all of these events possible, and my team behind the scenes who work so hard to make it such a fantastic event. 

"I would like to say a special thank you to our headline sponsor Totally Stockport BID company who approached us and invited us to Stockport nearly two years ago."

For those who attended and need more soapbox action, the next Krazy Races event will take place in Swansea on Sunday 18 June. A return to the North-west will take place on Sunday 16 July in Northwich. Krazy Races will then visit Wolverhampton city centre on Monday 28 August, and finish the season in Lancaster's Williamson Park on 17 September.