Cambridge University
Automobile Club

Who are CUAC?

Karting at Buckmore Park

The Cambridge University Automobile Club is a motor club for members and alumni of the University of Cambridge. We currently have over 500 members and boast veterans within the highest echelons of motorsport.

Founded in 1902, CUAC is amongst the oldest automobile clubs in the UK. We're a RACMSA recognised club, allowing us to organise and take part in competitive events. Our ties with other motor clubs throughout East Anglia and the rest of the country allow our members to enjoy a wide selection of motorsport activity in addition to our own offerings.

The club is entirely run by students and our largely informal approach makes getting involved easy. At its core, an active social group organises the club's activities and regular meetings (not to mention keeping each-others' cars running!). Contributing can be as simple as meeting up at the pub and offering to lend a hand. As a group we're friendly and helpful, and are always eager to share stories, advice and our time to help fellow Cambridge car enthusiasts.

Several times a year, CUAC expands beyond its regular membership and invites the entire university to its events. Cuppers (inter-college) go-karting is now a regular fixture on our calendar and our events have attracted broad student news coverage over the past years. We are also active on an inter-university level, with Varsity events vs. Oxford and national student motorsports events becoming increasingly popular.

What does CUAC have to offer?

As a club we support a wide range of interests and abilities. Many new CUAC members join with no previous experience and leave as seasoned navigational rally drivers, navigators or karting veterans. Meanwhile, we cater for the advanced motorsport enthusiast, and enter teams in the National Student Motor Sport Championship and the British University Karting Championship as well as hosting our own championships.

Splashing around on the Mindwarp rally

For the car enthusiast we offer a wide range of events. Foremost is our season of road rallies. Michaelmas term begins with a novice rally for those with little or no previous experience, and later rallies build the range of skills required to participate on a competitive level. Complementing these are an assortment of treasure hunts, navigational scatters and autotests throughout the year. No specialised equipment is necessary as all our events are open to standard production road cars. Even if you don't own a car, there's navigating, marshalling and visits to spectator events.

Most top-level racing drivers begin their careers in kart racing. This is motorsport at its most basic and, many would argue, its most pure form. It is also surprisingly easy to get involved in and, as with the greatest of sports, a doddle to learn but hugely difficult to master. It stands apart from all other sports in terms of pure adrenal thrills - racing at 70mph with your bum an inch off the ground while bumper-to-bumper with hoards of other racers is a phenomenally intense experience. Karting places simultaneous demands on your stamina, smoothness, concentration and intelligence like no other sport can. Nothing matches the relentless challenge of driving at the absolute limit of the kart's capabilities for lap after lap, or dicing at high-speed with other competitors. We organise a mixture of recreational kart races and competitions. New drivers are always welcome - the more karts on the track, the more fun the racing. Anyone interested in trying a completely unique sport that is at once accessible yet competitive and hugely enjoyable should give karting a try.

Throughout the year, social gatherings, formal halls, curry nights, F1 evenings, computer driving-game nights, pub rallys (pub-crawls), and a whole set of May Week events cater for most tastes. And if that fails to satisfy, we're always ready to try something new.