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BUKC

BUKC stands for British Universities Karting Championships, and is just that - teams from Universities all around the country congregate for fame and glory. It gives us a chance to race against (and sometimes beat) the best from the country. The format Karts CLUB100 provide a fleet of 100cc 2-strokes for the BUKC. These are a lot different to anything else we drive - outdoor prokarts may be quick, but they're quite heavy (what with having two engines). The 2-strokes are very light and nimble, with more power than pro-karts, mainly under acceleration. The other big difference is that they are direct-drive - no clutch. They need to be bump-started, and if you spin, you stall, so you have to wait for a specially-adapted "pusher kart" to come and get you going again. It also means rolling starts... Circuits All the circuits are outdoor, and most are down south. See the tracks marked as "National - BUKC" on the tracks page for an idea of where we head off to. Races The Endurance races were dropped in 2004 so that more teams could get involved, so it's all individual races these days. The 2006 format looks to be all double-header days (two rounds in one day at one track), so will likely be Team Sprints in the mornings and Wingman races in the afternoon. The worst round from the 6 in the championship is dropped before the final standings are tallied. The formats for the round last year were Team Sprint and Wingman. Team Sprint races Team Sprint races are individual 30-minute races, with grids randomly drawn. Each team will compete in 4, so each driver races in one, on their own. There is one mandatory fuel stop which your team mates will assist with, but otherwise it's all down to you... Points are awarded for finishing positions (50 for 1st, 49 for 2nd...), and the worst of the 4 races is dropped for each team, giving a result for the round. Wingman races Halfway between a sprint and an endurance format, this format sees two of your team heading out for an hour race - grids randomly drawn again - with three mandatory pits stops. Points are awarded as for sprint races but no scores are dropped - all your performances must count! Getting involved Obviously these aren't karts you can just jump into and drive. Everyone who races in the BUKC must have taken part in a test day (or the BUKC in previous years). Although it is open to everyone, we need to be sure you'll be able to handle the karts - as long as you've been to Langbaurgh (or equivalent) once, you should be fine. It's not recommended to jump straight from indoor karts to 2-strokes... Places are quite limited, however; we can take 12 drivers to each test day, and only 8 to each race. The A team will be picked based on performance (and availability), and we aim to rotate the B team so everyone gets a couple of races throughout the year. Watch out for an email nearer the time of the first test day (week 6) for more information on getting involved. A (very brief) history... The championship started in 1997 as the Inter-University Karting Championship (IUKC), with a few southern Universities heading to Daytona Milton Keynes for two enduros. York joined the fun in 2000, a 4-round affair at various tracks down south, using the karts provided by the tracks they visited. 2001 saw York enter two teams, and our best result to date, 7th overall. In 2002 Imperial got in touch with Club100 and the deal to race their 2-stroke karts began. 4 rounds down south in karts none of us had ever driven before saw the A team finish 11th and pick up the Rookie award, open to teams with no previous 2-stroke experience. 2003 was more of the same, extended to 5 rounds, with one northern round at Warden Law. York took Rookie honours narrowly from Exeter, as the fields grew in size and the race formats got a shake-up with the new style "TITS" races. Many teams featured drivers known in National Karting and even higher formulas. The grids expanded even more in 2004, with all-TITS races at 6 rounds spread over 4 venues. The A team came a very respectable 12th, with a 2nd-place finish at Clay a particular highlight. 2005 saw a fresh-faced A-team take on the championship, having driven only a year or two in the B team each (barring Rui, of course!) The seasons started slowly but picked up as the team's confidence improved greatly, culminating in a victory in one of the ARSE races at Clay Pigeon for Carl and Rui.