Resources
Captain’s Guide
1 – BUKC & MOTORSPORT UK LICENCE REQUIREMENTS
There are 2 types of “licence” in the BUKC:
- the BUKC Race Licence
- the Motorsport UK Licence
BUKC RACE LICENCE
BUKC Race Licences are only awarded to drivers who have demonstrated to Club100 that they are both a) fast enough and b) safe enough to race safely in the BUKC.
There are two levels of BUKC Race Licence: Full and Provisional:
- Drivers racing in the Prems or Clubman classes will need a full BUKC Race Licence.
- Drivers racing in the Qualifiers or the Inters class require a full or “provisional” BUKC Race Licence.
To obtain a BUKC Race Licence, a driver must attend a BUKC Test Day . Club100 monitor all drivers during such an event, recording the number of spins and any incidents on track. This information is combined with each driver’s lap time data in order to determine whether to issue a BUKC Race Licence or not. Around 50% of drivers do not obtain a BUKC Race Licence at their first attempt which is why there are multiple test days
In exceptional circumstances, captains may request that someone be given a BUKC Race Licence without attending a test day by emailing racing@bukc.co.uk. You will need to send over the following: a) details of what clubs or championships they have raced in, b) a copy of their national governing body race licence and c) links to their results. Club100 will then be happy to issue a BUKC Race Licence in such circumstances.
MOTORSPORT UK LICENCE
All drivers attending any race events (not test days) will need to obtain a Motorsport UK K-X Licence. This is free of charge.
If your driver has another type of Motorsport UK kart licence then they will not need to obtain a K-X licence.
To obtain a Motorsport UK K-X licence please refer your drivers to this page
2 – BOOKING INTO TEST DAYS
Test day bookings are managed entirely by the captain (or your vice captain) on Alpha Timing’s online entry system .
If you are not setup as the captain for your uni on Alpha, then please get in touch with us via racing@bukc.co.uk
Once logged into Alpha as the captain, click on “Manage Uni” to bring up the BUKC captain tools.
The “Manage Uni” area shows:
- Your latest invoices
- The next few events
- The latest drivers to sign up to your uni
To book into a test day, click on “view all events”, then click on the event to book into. You can then book drivers into the test day as either “Rookie” drivers or “Experienced” Drivers.
IMPORTANT 1: Rookie drivers are all those drivers without 2-stroke experience and who haven’t yet got a BUKC Race Licence. Everyone else should be considered experienced drivers.
IMPORTANT 2: You cannot change a driver from rookies to experienced (or vica versa) so please take care when entering a driver into a group.
Once you have selected the group to book the driver into, you’ll then need to choose the driver from the drop down list then choose how you wish for the driver to pay for the entry; either Pay by Card or Pay on Invoice.
We recommend that you insist your drivers to Pay By Card. If you choose Pay By Card, your driver will be sent an email and a text message with a link to make the payment. They will also have 72 hours in which to make the payment after which their entry will be cancelled automatically. The system will also send a reminder 24 hours before and one hour before the payment is due if they haven’t yet paid.
If you choose Pay On Invoice, then the booking will be automatically added to an invoice made out to your union for that particular event. You cannot make changes to this invoice so if your driver does not pay your union will still be liable for the payment. We recommend you only use this option if all payments must go through your union.
3 – BOOKING INTO THE QUALIFIERS
All teams racing in the Prems, Clubman or Inters championships must qualify at the Qualifiers.
The top 26 teams from the Qualifiers will be considered as Premier Class teams, the next 28 teams will be considered Clubman teams, and the next 54 teams will be considered Intermediate Class teams. All teams who do not manage to qualify for the Prems, Clubmans or Inters classes will be marked as reserve teams for the Inters class.
To request a team (or teams) for the qualifiers, all you need to do is email racing@bukc.co.uk stating your uni and how many teams etc.
IMPORTANT: Please only request the number of teams that you are completely sure you will be able to field. We say this because it is quite common, at the start of the season, for captains to over estimate the number of teams they wish to field, only for some of their drivers to let them down nearer the event. We therefore recommend that you take a sizeable deposit from your drivers as soon as possible to prove their commitment to your team(s).
Once we have received your email, we will send you an invoice for that event. You can also download the invoice by logging into the “Manage Uni” area on Alpha.
IMPORTANT: the invoice for the qualifiers must be settled at least 2 weeks prior to the qualifiers event.
After the qualifiers we will be in touch with all the captains to confirm entries into the rest of the Prems / Clubmans / Inters championships. We will also send the invoices to you at least 2 months prior to each event so you have plenty of time to hand the invoice to your union to ensure it is paid at least 2 weeks prior to each event.
4 – BOOKING INTO THE PREMIER & INTERS EVENTS (AFTER THE QUALIFIERS) / NEW DEPOSIT SYSTEM
New for 2023, we will rolling out a new deposit system which will come into effect after the qualifiers.
After the Qualifiers, Club100 will be in touch to confirm how many teams each university wants to field into the Prems & Inters events, as some teams, despite qualifying, do drop out after the qualifiers (usually those who only just made it into the championship).
Once the numbers of teams are confirmed with you, Club100 will issue an invoice with a 25% deposit for each event remaining in the championship. This invoice will need to be fully paid by Fri 16th December. Any teams who haven’t paid this deposit invoice will lose their entry into the championship and a reserve team will be given their place. You have been warned!
The money on the deposit invoice will be drawn down for each event, so that only 75% of entry fees for each event will be due for each event.
IMPORTANT: If a team pulls out of an event less than 3 weeks prior to the event, then that team will lose their 25% deposit for that event.
We’ve put this in place this year because there are a good handful of teams every year who drop out in the few days prior to an event. In such a circumstance it is impossible for us to find a reserve team to take their place. It is also not fair on those teams on the reserve list. We need more notice. It is really important therefore that you, as captain, get the payment from your drivers way in advance of each event so that you personally aren’t let down last minute.
5 – REFUND POLICIES
The BUKC only works when captains, teams and drivers are organised and committed. Captains in particular have to be organised and cut out those drivers who are not fully committed.
Over the last few years, there have been a good handful of teams over the last few years who fail to pay on time, then pull out at the last minute, sometimes even after the grid have been generated.
For this reason we are implementing a new deposit system (as mentioned above) and a new refund policy.
6 – HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR CLUB
To be successful in the BUKC, you need drivers, lots of them! The more drivers you have, the easier your life will be as captain as you will have more drivers to choose from, especially reserves who can stand in if your primary drivers drop out last minute.
It’s also more fun having a bigger club. So here are some tips on how to promote your club:
A) HAVE A STAND AT YOUR FRESHER’S FAIR
You can’t underestimate how important your fresher’s fair is. It is the key moment to attract people into your club and the more effort you put into your freshers fair, the more likely you are to meet great like minded people.
We always send a bunch of BUKC posters and flyers to each captain prior to the fresher’s fair so use these to your advantage. Get in touch with racing@bukc.co.uk if you haven’t received any (we need at least a week’s notice).
The most important thing at the fresher’s fair is to make your club as broad and as welcoming as possible. So plan to run regular indoor karting events which everyone can take part in. They’re fun and a great way to find new drivers who show some promise. Also the BUKC is not for everyone, but indoor karting is the base of pyramid so make use of it.
If you are allowed, build a list of mobile phone numbers or invite those who show interest to your WhatsApp group etc
B) PROMOTE YOUR CLUB ONLINE
If you have great onboard footage, make the most of it. Feel free to use whatever clips from the live streams as you like. The more content you can put out online as your club, the better.
Here are the latest BUKC Promo Videos which you can use how you wish:
And here is a link to a page full of our logos:
C) RUN NON-BUKC EVENTS ASAP
As mentioned above, indoor karting events are a great way for club members to meet and have fun. Definitely run events as early in the new term as possible to prevent interest from going stale.
Team Sport Karting often do special university student discounts so give them a call on 01252 732 300 and tell them that you are a university motorsport club and race in the BUKC and they should be able to give you a nice discount.
D) PROMOTE ON VARIOUS COURSE GROUPS
Especially engineering! Find those course groups online and put a little post up saying you’re looking for drivers to race in the BUKC.
A few years ago, a captain was very successful at finding new drivers by asking several lecturers if he could say a few words to the lecture theatre at the start of a lecture. Getting in front of people is the key, and the more people the better.
E) TAKING PAYMENTS / DEPOSITS
This is the last tip. If you have drivers who have shown an interest about coming to an event (BUKC or indoor), then take a deposit payment ASAP and be exceptionally hard on a cut-off date for the remaining balance.
It is a sad fact of life that there are people who will let you down last minute, and you can sniff them out early; those who don’t pay when asked to will often be the ones who will let you down.
FINALLY
Finally, good luck, enjoy and we hope you have a great year’s racing ahead
