British Universities Karting Championship

The British Universities Karting Championship, commonly abbreviated as the BUKC, is a university-based kart racing series in the United Kingdom.

The championship is operated by Club100 and licensed by Motorsport UK. Competed by 126 teams from a pool of 115 universities, the BUKC is one of the largest karting competitions in the world.

Loughborough University and Oxford Brookes University hold the record for most national championships, each having won the BUKC on six occasions. The reigning champions are the University of Reading, who beat the University of Bath by two points in the 2024 season.

Current and former BUKC entrants have included a Formula One driver and two FIA World Endurance Vice-Champions, as well as several national karting champions, Formula Two, Formula Three, British Touring Car, GT3 and GT4 drivers. BUKC alumni have won numerous high-profile motorsport titles, including the: 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring, British GT Championship, European Le Mans Series, Nürburgring 24 Hours, American Le Mans Series, Italian Superturismo Championship, 24 Hours of Spa, Britcar Endurance Championship and Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli.

Establishment
The BUKC, originally called the Inter University Karting Championship (IUKC), was founded in 2001 by students Will Tew and Tom Batho of Imperial College London. The inaugural IUKC season was organised by students from Cardiff University and the University of Nottingham, operated using four-stroke variety karts.

TKM era (2002–2018)
In 2002, the IUKC began an association with Club100, who supplied a fleet of two-stroke Formula TKM karts, becoming the first university karting championship to be run with two-stroke engines. The season was contested by 32 teams over four rounds, and won by Loughborough University.

In 2003, the format was altered, with a fifth round added; the championship renamed to the British Universities Karting Championship. In order to keep the organisation consistent and the relationship with Club100 strong, Batho and Tew founded 3T Racing Ltd in 2003 as an independent governing body for the championship.

Between 2004 and 2006, Oxford Brookes University won three consecutive titles, remaining the only university to complete a three-peat in the BUKC as of 2024.

Emanuele Pirro entered the first round of the 2015 season at Rye House as an independent entrant, becoming the first Formula One driver to compete in the BUKC.

In 2018, the final season of the TKM era, Oxford Brookes became the first—and to this date, only—team to have achieved a 1–2 finish in the Premier class championship standings. Across nine rounds, Oxford Brookes A and B won six rounds with 12 podiums, achieving a 1–2 finish in qualifiers and round one. Oxford Brookes C also managed to finish the championship in ninth.

The final BUKC event raced with TKM engines was the 2019 season qualifiers at Whilton Mill in November 2018, won by Brunel University London and the University of Birmingham on the Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Rotax era (2019–present)
For 2019, Club100 replaced their fleet of Formula TKM karts with Rotax karts, utilising their Evo technology, ending a 17-year tenure of the BUKC using TKM karts.

To mark the new era, the championship was re-divided into three classes: Premier, Clubman and Intermediate (previously Premier, Intermediate and Rookie). The Premier and Clubman class championships are competed in the same races, with Intermediate the day after being targeted at less experienced drivers and teams.

Coventry University are the only team win multiple championships in the Rotax era, winning back-to-back in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, Loughborough won their record-breaking sixth Premier class championship, with Oxford Brookes equalling this one year later.

The championship is currently contested by 126 teams over five main rounds, including qualifiers.

Format
The BUKC uses a unique format that races in teams of four drivers, taking place across a number of rounds throughout the academic year at several world-class kart circuits in the United Kingdom.

Qualifiers
Qualifiers is a pre-championship round that takes place to determine which teams qualify for each class championship. The results of the round count towards each championship.

The championship qualifiers take place across 14 qualifying sessions, followed by 14 respective sprint races. The event is split over two days in randomly generated groups.

Of the 126 teams that enter qualifiers: 26 qualify for the Premier class championship, 28 for Clubman, and 54 for Intermediate.

Premier/Clubman class championships
In the Premier/Clubman class championships, commonly known as mains, each round takes place across six back-to-back races with randomly generated grids.

Each mains round is competed in one of two formats: sprint or endurance. In a mains sprint round, the six races alternate between lightweight (75 kg) and heavyweight (82 kg) races.

The sprint format is where each driver in the team gets to race in their own individual 25-minute race with no fuel stops or driver changes. Each team's score for the round is determined by the best three results from the four sprint races entered.

The endurance format splits each team into duos. Each duo competes in a one-hour endurance race. Two fuel stops a minimum of one driver change must be made by each duo. Each team's score for the round is determined by the points from both races entered.

Intermediate class championship
In the Intermediate class championship, commonly known as inters, each round takes place across six qualifying sessions, followed by six respective sprint races.

In an inters round, each race is run to a 75 kg minimum weight.

Points system
Points are awarded for each race in increments of one, with the highest-finishing eligible driver receiving 60. Unlike other motorsport series, there are no points awarded for pole position or fastest lap.

In a sprint round, the best three results from each team are counted towards the points tally for the round, whereas both sets of results count in an endurance round.

The same championship points system is awarded for each overall round, with the best seven rounds from each mains team's campaign counting towards their final tally, and the best four from each inters team, both including qualifiers.

In the event of a tie in either a round or the championship standings, a countback system is used.

Karts
The BUKC are partnered with Club100 to provide karts for the championship, who operate the largest arrive-and-drive kart fleet in Europe. The two-stroke 125cc Rotax engines produce over 20 hp, and are capable of speeds in excess of 70 mph.

The karts use slick Dunlop tyres in all weather conditions, with Club100 citing the logistical challenges faced with changing the tyres on over 50 karts.

Kart specification
In 2019, the BUKC moved from air-cooled Formula TKM engines to Rotax.

Current and former circuits
Since 2013, the BUKC has raced at 13 different venues. Glan Y Gors and Llandow are the only tracks the BUKC has raced at outside of England, both being situated in Wales. The BUKC is yet to race in either Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Calendar
For the 2024 season, five rounds took place at four venues across the United Kingdom: Whilton Mill, PF International, Buckmore Park and Warden Law. The post-season 24 Hour Race took place at Teesside Autodrome.

Universities
The championship is open to entries from any institution of higher education in the United Kingdom. Each university may be represented by more than one team of four drivers; Loughborough University fielded three teams in 2008, with many universities following suit. In 2022, Oxford Brookes University became the first university to successfully qualify six teams for the mains championship, with five qualifying for the Premier class.

Loughborough and Oxford Brookes are the joint-most successful teams in BUKC history, each achieving six Premier class championships. The series is most popular among universities in the South of England; however, Wales is also well represented, including Cardiff University, Swansea University and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, the latter finishing second overall in the 2009 season. Swansea won the 2018 24 Hour Race.

In 2009, the University of Edinburgh became the first Scottish team to enter the championship, with nearby Heriot-Watt University following in 2010. The University of the West of Scotland became the third Scottish team to join in 2015. Edinburgh Napier, St Andrews, Glasgow and Strathclyde have joined the championship since then. A joint entry between Heriot-Watt and UWS won the 2016 24 Hour Race, and Strathclyde won the tertiary championship in 2018 and 2020, becoming the only non-English championship-winning team in BUKC history.

In 2014, the Dublin Institute of Technology, now known as TU Dublin, became the first Irish university to race in the BUKC, taking part in the inaugural post-season 24 Hour Race in June, although they have yet to enter an official round of the championship. TU Dublin have since won the event twice, in 2022 and 2023.

A full list of registered universities can be found on the official BUKC website.

Live coverage
The championship is currently broadcast live on YouTube by Alpha Live with live footage, commentary and interviews for all Premier and Clubman class races.

The opening race of the 2024 season at PF International had a record viewership of over 11 thousand people with a season average of 10.1 thousand, comparable to viewership of BUCS Super Rugby, whose live coverage averaged 8.73 thousand viewers in the 2023–24 season (including play-offs).

Alpha Timing provide live timing for each BUKC event, including testing and qualifiers, via their website.

Champions
As of the 2024 season, 10 different universities have won the Premier class championship across 24 seasons: Nottingham, Loughborough, Leeds, Oxford Brookes, Hertfordshire, Bath, Coventry, Huddersfield, Exeter and Reading. All Premier championship-winning teams in the BUKC have been from England.

Loughborough and Oxford Brookes hold the joint-record for most Premier class titles, each with six. Coventry are the only team to win multiple championships in the Rotax era, taking back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020. The three teams have dominated the championship since its inception, winning 16 of the 24 championships altogether, including seven consecutively from 2016 to 2022.

As of 2024, Nottingham, Exeter and Reading are the only championship-winning universities who do not offer automotive engineering at an undergraduate level, the former two of which still offer mechanical engineering.

Clubman class championship (2012–present)
Since 2019, the Clubman class has been the secondary championship to the Premier class, both taking place in the same races. Prior to 2019, the secondary championship was known as the Intermediate class. This table includes the Intermediate class champions prior to the introduction of the Clubman class.

Intermediate class championship (2012–present)
Since 2019, the Intermediate class has been the tertiary championship to the Premier and Clubman classes, replacing the Rookie class. This table only includes the Intermediate class champions after the re-branding, as well as the previous Rookie class champions.

Graduate class championship (2017–19)
The Graduate class championship, also known as grads, ran from 2017 to 2019, offering a chance for non-recent graduates of each respective university to continue competing in the BUKC.

Drivers' Championship
Since 2013, the BUKC Drivers' Championship has been held after the final race week of the season. It is the only event of the BUKC season not held in university-based teams of four.

The championship is split into three classes: lightweight, heavyweight and graduates. Each class is divided into qualifying heats, being seeded into performance-based finals. The winners of each 'A final' are crowned as their respective class champions, with the top 10 from each progressing to the Super Final, which crowns the Drivers' Champion.

The 2021 championship was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The 2024 championship, due to be held at Whilton Mill, was cancelled due to rising costs and low graduate entries.

Clay Pigeon Raceway in Dorset has hosted the most BUKC Drivers' Championships, with five. In 2023, 163 drivers entered the event.

Matthew Taylor of Oxford Brookes University is the only driver to win multiple Drivers' Championships, winning in 2019 and 2022.

24 Hour Race
The annual BUKC 24 Hour Race is held post-season at Teesside Autodrome, the largest kart circuit in the world, for up to 90 university teams. Unlike the regular season, non-recent graduates are able to enter their respective university's teams. The 24 Hour Race is the only event on the BUKC calendar that does not utilise Club100 machinery, instead using twin-engine 200cc Prokarts.

The event starts with a two-hour practice session, followed by a one-shot qualifying session, also known as superpole, to set the grid for the race. An endurance race is then run continuously for 24 hours, emulating the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona, which form two out of three legs of the Triple Crown of endurance racing.

Winners of the BUKC 24 Hour Race
Unlike the main championship, which has been solely won by universities from England, English teams have only won six of the 10 24 Hour Races, as of 2024. A mixed team of students from Scotland's Heriot-Watt University and the University of the West of Scotland won the event in 2016, followed by Wales' Swansea University in 2018, and Ireland's TU Dublin in 2022 and 2023, the latter becoming the first non-British team to win a BUKC event.

Notable alumni
Inclusion criteria: Entered the BUKC and competed in auto racing at an international level.