BUMC has a number of awards – some awarded for accumulating points over a series of events, others for winning particular events in the championship year. Read on to discover what awards are available, to whom, and how you can score points in pursuit of these coveted pieces of silverware.
Championship Series Awards:
Points for these awards are accumulated over a full year (the ‘championship year’ which runs from January – December), apart from the Head Start Shield, for which points are only available in the autumn term (the reason for which will become clear as you read on).
The rules applying to eligibility for awards and the points scoring system are detailed below for the individual awards available. A distinction is made between internal (BUMC organised) and external (non-BUMC organised) events. This is in an attempt to encourage participation not just in motorsport events in general, but in BUMC events in particular.
The Championship Secretary is responsible for keeping the championship tables up-to-date.
Austin
Nurse Challenge Trophy (picture):
This award was presented to the club in the early 1960s by Austin Nurse, the proprietor of a motor garage near the University.
The championship is for undergraduate members competing in driving events. Points are awarded: 10-6-4-3-2-1-1-1… and are available for both internal and external events, although for full points to be available for an external event, there must be at least two BUMC crews competing. For external events, points are awarded to BUMC undergraduate crews ignoring any other competitors; thus the highest placed BUMC undergraduate crew receives 10 points, the next BUMC undergraduate crew 6 points and so on. A crew consisting of both undergraduate and non-undergraduate members will feature in these results, (although Austin Nurse points will only be awarded to undergraduate members of that crew). If only one BUMC crew is competing then 3 points are awarded to each undergraduate member of the crew. Competitors who fail to finish an event are awarded 1 point for both internal and external events.
In order to encourage people to get involved in organising events, marshals’ points are available at the rate of 3 per event for an internal event and 1 per event for an external event.
In addition to being an undergraduate at the start of the competition year in question, in order to be eligible to receive the Austin Nurse Trophy, a competitor must have organised (or co-organised) at least one internal event. This also helps the points score for the competitor, as organisers points are available, at the rate of 10 for the first event organised, 6 for the next event organised and so on.
Click here for a list of past winners of the Austin Nurse Trophy.
Heigham
Challenge Trophy (picture):
This award was presented to the club in 1977 by Jerry Heigham. Originally for male club members only (ladies were catered for by the Mermaid Trophy which at the time was for female club members only), the award is now open to competition from both sexes.
The championship is for undergraduate members competing in driving events. Points are awarded: 10-6-4-3-2-1-1-1… and are available for both internal and external events, although for full points to be available for an external event, there must be at least two BUMC crews competing. For external events, points are awarded to BUMC non-undergraduate crews ignoring any other competitors; thus the highest placed BUMC non-undergraduate crew receives 10 points, the next BUMC non-undergraduate crew 6 points and so on. A crew consisting of both undergraduate and non-undergraduate members will feature in these results, (although Heigham Challenge points will only be awarded to non-undergraduate members of that crew). If only one BUMC crew is competing then 3 points are awarded to each non-undergraduate member of the crew. Competitors who fail to finish an event are awarded 1 point for both internal and external events.
Although there is no requirement to organise an event to be eligible for this award,in order to encourage people to get involved in organising events, marshals’ points are available at the rate of 3 per event for an internal event and 1 per event for an external event, while organisers’ points are available at the rate of 10 for the first event organised, 6 for the next event organised and so on.
Click here for a list of past winners of the Heigham Challenge Trophy.
Vineyard
Challenge Trophy (picture):
Presented to the club by Phil Gameson in 1985, this award was intended to encourage involvement in all BUMC events. Open to all BUMC members, points may be gained by organising or taking part in any competitive internal event (whether such an event involves use of a motor car or not). Examples of events, which would otherwise go unrewarded, include Scalextric evenings, quizzes and tabletop rallies.
The points system for this championship is much more straightforward than either the Austin Nurse or Heigham challenges, since external events do not count towards The Vineyard Trophy. Points are awarded: 10-6-4-3-2-1-1-1… regardless of the number of competitors, and as these are only available for internal events, everyone is included in the calculation of the points awarded.
There is no requirement to organise an event to be eligible for this award, but again to encourage people to get involved in organising events, marshals’ points are available at the rate of 3 per event, while organisers’ points are available at the rate of 10 for the first event organised, 6 for the next event organised and so on.
Click here for a list of past winners of the Vineyard Trophy.
Head
Start Shield (picture):
Martin Head presented this award to the club to encourage freshers to get involved in motor club events right from the start. As the academic year starts only some three months or so before the end of the championship year, freshers may feel that they are unable to start to take part in the championships until their second term. The Head Start Shield was presented to the club in order to help avoid this situation.
The Head Start Shield is awarded to the highest placed fresher in The Vineyard Championship at the end of the year, and being solely available to freshers, is in effect fought for over the first three months or so of university life, offering the prospect of winning a major club award within a few months, and providing a springboard for undergraduates to compete for the Austin Nurse and Vineyard trophies from their second term onwards.
Click here for a list of past winners of the Head Start Shield.
This is awarded to the person (or crew) who accumulate the most points over the course of the championship year from treasure hunting events run by the club. The Treasure Hunt Championship has been keenly fought in the past, although more recently treasure hunts have not featured so prolifically on the club calendar. Nevertheless, treasure hunting remains a cheap and easy way into motorsport, and The Club hopes to organise more events in the future.
Individual Event Awards:
As the name suggests, these awards are presented to the winners of specific events during the competition year.
Originally a series award solely for female club members, this award is now presented to the winning crew of the Mermaid Rally.
Late November Scatter Shield (picture):
Presented to the winning crew of the Late November Navigational Scatter.
Special Awards:
These are ‘non competitive event’ awards, voted on and presented at the Annual General Meeting.
A secret ballot at the AGM enables all those present to vote for the club member whom they believe has made an outstanding contribution to The Club. The trophy is awarded to the member who receives the most votes. All current club members are eligible for the award (there is no shortlist), with the proviso that the current holder is not eligible – ie. the trophy cannot be won by the same individual two years running.
This award is for the ‘best newsletter article’ in the twelve months leading up to the AGM.
Originally for the ‘most entertaining piece of driving on a competitive event’, this criterion has been stretched occasionally when a piece of non-competitive driving has resulted in a worthy recipient of the trophy.
