BUKC (British Uni Karting Champs)

[dwf1]

does anyone have any experience of this series and me and my uni will be competing for the very first time and any advice would be useful!
Its a series in club100 karts

[ralphspins]

I hope you like massed rolling starts and dodging newbies!

The talent spread in the races is huge, you can have ex-formula A karters and single seater racers sharing a track with people with next to no karting experience! Makes the first few laps rather hairy, and being able to get through traffic later on in the races is a vital skill to have.

Club100 don't warm the karts up for us at the start of the day, so it's best to put your most experienced driver out in the kart then, a grumpy TKM on an invariably icy track on rock hard slicks is a bit of a handful for the uninitiated!

Which uni are you from? I didnt see any new unis on the entry list for the Rye House test day next week.

You probably won't have to suffer being on track with me next week 'cause im still recovering from a broken ankle, but then again if someone in a spiderman helmet and red sparco suit comes flying past then gizza wave

Ralph - Formula Brookes BUKC team 2005-present
Formula Brookes, BUKC Champions 2004/5/6, runners up 2007.

[ss_collins]

I remember when it all got going... and ralph I was one of the founding members of Formula Brookes! Tony Simpson who is on here sometimes was also a very early member.

[ralphspins]

Originally Posted by ss_collins

I remember when it all got going... and ralph I was one of the founding members of Formula Brookes! Tony Simpson who is on here sometimes was also a very early member.

were you?! yikes! I'm currently the treasurer. Craig Dawson is now one of our engineering lecturers which makes things, erm, interesting. Sadly we came 2nd last year (by one point!) but we've got some hot freshers that we hope will be up to task.

Have a gander at www.formulabrookes.co.uk for an up to dateish idea of what we're up to

[ss_collins]

Yup me, Scott Keith, Lee Brookes, Simon Baldry, Robert Montrose were the founders - Craig was right in there early too and became the first proper chairman.

In that first year there was a good championship at Karting oxford with Jonnie Wigmore, Steve Brady, Emilio De Villota, Craig of course, and about 30 others.

[Tony_Simpson]

Hello there Ralph, yep i was one of the early Brookes committee members. had some interesting times back then too

Back to the question of BUKC.

first thing is get along to all the BUKC test days and get as much track time as possible. I race Club100 enduros at times now and one thing I have learned is keep the driver out on track as long as possible in the race, so a full 20 mins or more before swapping drivers.

Make sure you have a good pit board so everyone can see it clearly. when you stop make sure you have 2 people behind the kart to help push out and one person changing any of the lead. Remeber it is easier to loose lots of time in the pits so good quick pit work is essential.

Hope that helps a bit.

Also next year in you lot in BUKC should be some of the first ones out in the new Club100 fleet of Birel chassis so keep them in good order for us!!!

[ralphspins]

The only name i know from that lot is Monty, who is still knocking about (and now a dad if you didn't know!).

You'll be pleased to hear that Brookes pit stops are mentioned in JV's driver briefings as "the ones to watch", we're down to about 5 seconds from kart stop to push start now.

We still go to karting oxford (i managed to get my ankle shattered there over the summer, tit!), the A-finals are more of a bloodsport than a race!

Anyway, yeah BUKC : getting as much seat time as possible is the easiest way to get faster in C100, i'm still getting the hang of driving one fast enough to be in the lead, but not so fast you bin it with 2 laps to go

As for new chassis, did you hear about the first C100 session of 2006, which was the BUKC test at Whilton? That was when they discovered that their new chassis design was rubbish and made of "monkey metal", by lunchtime 4 had been written off, and the days total was 7!!

Not sure about the new Birel chassis, they look rather enclosed which could lead to the racing becoming more BTCC than BUKC

[Tony_Simpson]

i've just seen the pic of the Birel chassis, and looks a bit different. the bumpers are mandatory from CIK rules. kart weighs heavier by 10kg or so, but gearing is better so is meant to feel faster out of corners. At Rye a couple of guys were running lap times very similar to the present chassis. Also bigger fuel tanks in so pit stop stratagies are more important. things sound promising.

[Kidzer]

Ooh, I've never noticed such a championship existed.

Might be interested in this, see if I can get anything going with my Uni, a bit of a hike to the events though!

[ralphspins]

Originally Posted by Kidzer

Ooh, I've never noticed such a championship existed.

Might be interested in this, see if I can get anything going with my Uni, a bit of a hike to the events though!

It would be nice to see the Scots reappear! Edinburgh have competed a few times but they found that getting to Dorset and Kent for some of the races was just too much, it was costing a bomb and they were having to miss uni on tuesday, wednesday and thursday just to come down and get walloped by Brookes, Swansea etc. That said, last time we went up north to Warden Law (what a track!) quite a few northern & scottish unis entered and it was great to have quite a different set of people in the field.


dwf1, which one of the staffordshire lot were you? i spoke to 2 of your lot and they both looked blank when i mentioned ten tenths! I was the guy with the red race kit and spiderman lid that was in that big 5 way scrap at the end of the morning session

[happyhammer]

It sounds silly, but if you have a bunch of n00bs racing, and frankly haven't got a hope in hell of winning, try to enjoy it. I spent my year as team captain trying to win the title, despite the fact that only one of our drivers was any good. This led to much pointless stress. The following captain, who, was in fact our one good driver had a far more laid back approach. The net result was the same, but without the stress.

Try and maximise your points in the wet. I found that when it ****ed it down at Buckmore (2 years ago) a lot of the good (assuming having own wetsuit=good) were very quick, but seemed to enjoy spinning more than racing.

[ghinzani]

Originally Posted by happyhammer

It sounds silly, but if you have a bunch of n00bs racing, and frankly haven't got a hope in hell of winning, try to enjoy it. I spent my year as team captain trying to win the title, despite the fact that only one of our drivers was any good. This led to much pointless stress. The following captain, who, was in fact our one good driver had a far more laid back approach. The net result was the same, but without the stress.

Try and maximise your points in the wet. I found that when it ****ed it down at Buckmore (2 years ago) a lot of the good (assuming having own wetsuit=good) were very quick, but seemed to enjoy spinning more than racing.

very good attitude! Is it MSA sanctioned? that tends to bring its own stresses...

[Rockmunky]

I don't think C100 is MSA sanctioned. Well you don't need a MSA licence to compete, so i guess that explains it.

[happyhammer]

Originally Posted by ghinzani

very good attitude! Is it MSA sanctioned? that tends to bring its own stresses...

What? Being laid back MSA sanctioned?? I somehow doubt that!!


Championship isn't an MSA jobby, but it is well run.



Anyone doing 'proper' club100 next year?