THE Herald has visited another group who have been preparing for Farnham’s first-ever soapbox derby.

The team from Upham pub The Alma – consisting of pub landlord Matthew Williams, car driver Jamie Clark and car engineers Anthony Smith, Paul Bowen and Tony Brant – have been working on their car for the past few months to prepare for the race.

The group have also had support from two sponsors, Farnham Homes and Gold Station Jewellers, Aldershot.

Matthew said the preparations for the race had been testing, following some early mishaps with the size of the car.

He said: “We struggled with the build because of the dimensions they had set.

“We had a bit of a disaster to start with as we realised the car was too long and we had to cut it down.”

Team member Jamie is “6ft-something”, so the team had difficulty trying to fit even one person in the space allowed for a driver and passenger in each car.

Jamie is keen to drive the car down Castle Street, and Matthew called his friend “daft”, adding: “You’ve got to be mad to do it!

“I’m not going to be in it – I have enough broken limbs.

“I have lived round here my whole life and I know how fast that hill is.”

Matthew described the car has “kept in the tradition of a real soapbox car”.

However, in plans still on the drawing board and yet to be brought to life, Matthew said the team were expecting to have a “giant bullion” in a nod to sponsor Gold Station Jewellers, and stickers of Farnham Homes and The Alma.

The car will also be complete – as long as it passes safety checks – with three smoke cannisters, which will blast out red, white and blue on its descent down Castle Street on August 18.