Society Spotlight | Bristol Racing

By Annabel Bienfait, Community Editor

This month, we are spotlighting Bristol Racing, the University of Bristol’s motorsport society. Open to all students interested in engineering, Bristol Racing run workshops, host competitions, and send an experienced team to Greenpower F24+ series races. We asked Co-President, Erin Gardner, about her experiences in the society, and what we can expect to see from Bristol Racing this year.

How would you describe Bristol Racing Society in a few words?

Bristol Racing is a student-led motorsport team that designs, builds, and races an electric car in the Greenpower F24+ series. We develop the car throughout the year and compete at events across the country.

How can members get involved with Bristol Racing?

Members can join one of our four sub-teams: Aerodynamics, Composites, Electrical or Mechanical. You get to learn practical skills like CAD, 3D printing, laser cutting and soldering while contributing to a fun project. The experience gained at Bristol Racing is also valuable for future careers in engineering. It is a great way to make friends, and you get to know older students who are always happy to share advice and stories from past years.

You mentioned that you design cars for the Greenpower F24+ series. Could you explain this competition?

Greenpower is an international racing series where teams design and race electric cars in several categories, including the F24+ class for university and college teams. All cars are built by the competitors themselves, and the races bring together student teams from across the world.

Our current car, BR3.5, was designed and built from scratch by the team. We are now carrying out repairs and upgrades and will move into testing and design improvements ahead of the 2026 season, which begins in May.

Are there any opportunities for students with no engineering or motorsport experience?

We run a training programme from September to January that teaches new members everything they need to get started. Everyone is put into small groups, and each group designs and builds a remote-control car, which we race head-to-head after the Christmas break. It is a great way to learn basic CAD and manufacturing skills, even if you have never done anything like this before.

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Sounds like an amazing opportunity. Motorsports is still a heavily male-dominated industry. How does Bristol Racing support female students who want to pursue careers in engineering and motorsports?

We put a lot of focus on building a strong and supportive community for women in the team. Female members can be paired with a female mentor who helps them settle into the society, and we have a women’s group chat where members can ask questions or share advice. We are also proud to have several female team leads, who give newer members visible role models within the project.

It sounds like Bristol Racing provides a truly inclusive and sociable environment for all students interested in motorsports. Do you have any favourite memories from past workshops, Greenpower competitions, and socials?

Everyone in the team looks forward to letting off steam at our socials. Our recent karaoke night was unforgettable and really showed the close friendships within the team. Taking the car to races is definitely a highlight: seeing all our hard work come together on track is really rewarding, and we always make sure to celebrate afterwards.

What's on?

This year, demand to join the team has been so high that all the Bristol Racing sub-teams and the RC programme are full!

Over the next few months, keep an eye out for project and event announcements on the Bristol Racing socials. Everyone is welcome to come along and find out more about the society!