Congratulations to the Girls’ School ‘Soap Box’ drivers and pit crew who have held onto their 2016 national title after winning the national final of the Rotary Soapbox Derby over the weekend! Year 8 student, Kaythi Finn was crowned New Zealand Super Stock Soap Box Champion and will travel to Ohio in the July to compete in the All-American Soap Box World Championships! This will be the second year in a row that a Girls’ School student has travelled to the States to represent New Zealand after Ocean Scott took the honour last year. 

The win did not come without its challenges though! The first race of the day resulted in a crash for Year 6 student, Emily Hall after having to re-set the brake and steering cables to meet the scrutineer’s requirements. Luckily, Emily was not disqualified and the crash did not deter her. Emily managed to race fearlessly through to the final 12 cars, but unfortunately did not place. It was a remarkable outcome for a ‘rookie’ to the sport. 

Up next was our second national finalist, Kaythi Finn! She showed composure and focus throughout the day. Having reached the New Zealand Finals for the previous two years, she knew what to expect. Kaythi believed she could do it this year, firstly making the final eight before executing two great final runs. The girls were speeding down the newly sealed Brightside Road hill in Whangaparaoa notching up speeds of well over 60km/h! They really were hurtling like professionals! Year 8 student, Ocean Scott competed in the Masters Division placing 3rd. 

After the success of last year many girls were keen to get involved in the lead up to this year’s competition. A determined group of ten students gave up many of their lunchtimes to build a second Soap Box car. The car arrived as a kit set, comprised of hundreds of parts, courtesy of the Auckland Rotary Club. The girls did all the work on the car precisely to specifications, due to the rigorous scrutineering that occurs at the Regionals and Nationals, and then will happen again when Kaythi takes the car to the World Championships. 

A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes, so we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been a part of the process and journey so far. There have been many hours of work gone into the building of the car, making repairs, researching, fixing parts, arranging logistics, practice sessions on weekends and organising the girls. 

We would like to sincerely thank our sponsors, Mr Warren Linn from iSign It for the vinyl wrapping of the soap box car, Black Fasteners Ltd for the training t-shirts and Blueriver Creative for supplying the graphics. 

Congratulations to the Girls’ School, Kaythi Finn, their supporters and the teams working behind the scenes.

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