5 reasons to watch Red Bull Box Cart Race in Sandton on October 4 - IOL

Homemade carts, wild costumes, guaranteed crashes, and not an engine in sight. Here is why Red Bull Box Cart Race belongs at the top of your Sunday plans.

On Sunday, October 4, Sandton Drive turns into a downhill circus. Red Bull Box Cart Race is back in Johannesburg; it is free to watch, and it is bringing hand-built carts, fancy dress, and the kind of chaos nobody can script. Here are five reasons to be on the hill.

1. Because it is theatre, not a race

Forget the stopwatch. Before a single cart moves, every team performs a skit at the top of the ramp, performing for the judges and the crowd. Carts are scored on speed, creativity, and showmanship, so the fastest machine does not always win. This year’s UCT engineering crew, Kwik Kwik Nawu Nawu, are more amped for the performance than the run itself. “We’ve put a lot of thought into it, and we think we’re going to absolutely kill it,” the team says.

Every cart is hand-built from scratch, completely engine-free, and dressed up as whatever the workshop dreamed up at 2am. Returning team Noma Yini sums theirs up in three words: “Creative. Kasi. Unpredictable.” Expect potjie pots, delivery missions, and machines held together with hope and duct tape. Half the fun is spotting your favourite before it has even moved.

Red Bull Box Cart Race takes over Sandton Drive, Johannesburg, on Sunday, October 4. Entry is free.

Gravity always collects. The carts hit the jumps at full tilt, and some of them do not survive the landing. Wheels come loose, steering gives up, and the odd cart disassembles itself in glorious slow motion while the driver hangs on for dear life. Nobody remembers the tidy runs. Everybody remembers the wipeouts.

4. The course, with a proper South African twist

The Sandton Drive course is built to catch carts out, a downhill run loaded with jumps and obstacles designed to separate the brave from the sensible. Organisers are keeping the layout under wraps, but this is South Africa, so it would be rude not to expect a pothole or two, and who knows what other local surprises are waiting halfway down. Steering and brakes are compulsory for a reason: the hill does not forgive.

5. Because it is free, and it is history in the making

South Africa is the only African nation to have hosted Red Bull Box Cart Race, and the crowds prove it. The most recent edition was held in Cape Town in 2022 through the cobbled streets of Bo-Kaap and drew more than 22 000 spectators. This year is Johannesburg’s turn, and South Africa’s eighth edition overall, with Sandton Drive joining a 2026 global calendar that runs through Belfast, London, Denver, and Los Angeles. There is even a title to chase: the reigning champions, the Potjie Boytjies from Stellenbosch, won on a potjie pot on wheels. Best of all, watching it costs you nothing.

Half the fun of any race is having someone to shout for. This year’s field includes two crews worth backing. Noma Yini bring township hustle and heart, racing to prove a point as much as to have a good time: “We wanted to say, ‘Why not us?’”. Kwik Kwik Nawu Nawu, a crew of final-year engineering students from UCT, are chasing one last adventure before they graduate, and they are not here to make up the numbers. “First and foremost, we want to win,” they say. Heart or horsepower: choose your side.