Tom Cruise might feel the need for speed, but our friends over at Red Bull prefer a more chaotic pace. The lifestyle brand is bringing one of its greatest-ever events back to Australia, with the iconic Red Bull Billy Cart Race set to land in Melbourne on 3 December 2022. Crack out your best party outfits and start tinkering with the toolbox, the chequered flag awaits.
Perhaps one of the most interesting events on the Red Bull calendar, the Billy Kart Race has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity over the past few years. After kicking off in Brussels way back in 2000, Red Bull has held more than 100 races around the world, giving backyard engineers the opportunity to showcase their weird and wonderful human-propelled creations.
Winning teams are chosen based on the ingenuity, creativity, and racing capability of the vehicle they propose to build, which can often go haywire. A full display of creativity and craftsmanship, previous designs have included an Italian dining table for two, a rodeo clown and 2015’s winning design: the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But this time around, there is a distinctly hipster vibe.
For the first time since 2004, the Red Bull Billy Cart Race returns to Melbourne, with participants challenged with traversing obstacles, beams and some jumps down the city’s iconic Lansdowne Street in front of 30,000 guests. Another first for the event, participating Red Bull Billy Cart Race teams will have the chance to upgrade from a Billy Cart, powered by themselves, to a real car, powered by an engine. While that might sound dangerous, it has less to do with the on-track performance and more to do with the prize, with the winning team taking home a brand new 2022 Suzuki Jimny, thanks to major partner Suzuki.
The final call is out now for team applications wanting to enter to take part, with entries set to close this Sunday 14 August. To enter, teams must submit their design, team name and team member names on the Red Bull Billy Cart Race website. From there, organisers will select 50 teams, with applicants being notified on Monday August 22 if they have been selected. Selected teams have until December 1 to build their cart and get it to the racetrack in Melbourne. If you’ve always wanted to make a fool of yourself in front of 30,000 people in a homemade billy kart, you better get cracking.