The countdown is on to the return of Red Bull Soapbox Race to the island of Ireland, as Stormont Estate, Belfast prepares to host the high-octane, gravity-fuelled spectacle on May 17th. The free event will be open to the public, with no tickets required.
Selected from more than 300 applications, this year’s lineup of 40 fearless teams brings together a mix of engineers, students and creatives; with each four-person team tasked with turning imaginative concepts into fully functioning race machines ahead of race day at Stormont Estate.
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Among them are 18 teams representing more than a dozen counties across the Republic of Ireland, with three teams from Dublin, highlighting the depth of creativity and grassroots engineering talent in the county.
One of the Dublin entries is the Gradient Descent team from Swords who are aiming to impress in the showmanship category with their eye-catching green caterpillar, comprising of four separate sections to mimic a slithering movement.
Also competing are the 2026 Young Constructors Programme winners “On The Shoulders Of Giants” from TUS Athlone who are a team of engineering students whose design celebrates the women behind key innovations, with the aim of inspiring more young women into careers in STEM.
Event Participants compete at Red Bull Soapbox Race in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA on 14.06.2025. // Chris Tedesco / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202506150107 // Usage for editorial use only //As part of the programme, they travelled to the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes, where they received mentorship from Formula One engineers and an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at elite-level car design and engineering.
With no engines and no limits on imagination, Red Bull Soapbox Race challenges teams to combine creativity, performance and showmanship in one of the world’s most unconventional downhill races.
Red Bull Soapbox Race returns to Ireland for the first time since 2016, when 30,000 spectators turned out in Cork to watch Wexford team “The Jumbo Breakfast Roll” take the win, clocking a time of 37 seconds down the challenging St. Patrick’s Hill course. The event was also previously held at Stormont Estate in 2008.
The event runs from 2–5pm, with gates opening at 1pm, and is free to attend. For full spectator details, visit redbull.ie/soapbox and follow @RedBullIRE on Instagram.
