Innovation has been fundamental to this club throughout its 115-year history – and it continues to thrive by creating accessible motorsport events for everyone

If Bristol Motor Club had a crest with a motto, it would simply read‘ to innovate is to succeed.’ Now well into its second century of existence, it has an active pool of around 300 members, runs events in almost every discipline and has list of UK motorsport firsts that have made their mark throughout the years.

Bristol MC, perhaps most notably, was the club that ran the UK’ s first AutoSOLO – a discipline that, more than 20 years later, has become one of the most popular entry points to UK motorsport. Decades before that, it was instrumental in the launch of two top UK circuits, creating Castle Coombe and running the first event at Thruxton.

In recent years, its ingenuity has come through unique angles on familiar formats, with the launch of its multi-discipline MX-5 Championship, which is now in its 11th season, and the recent introduction of a Generation Cup AutoSOLO series that pairs junior drivers with their generational elders in a family-focused competition.

“ There is definitely an innovative mindset within the committee,” says club competition secretary Andy Laurence.“ The club has always been large, which helps because it gives more opportunity for innovation, and we have also got 115 years of history to go back on.”

Running the taster autotest at the South Gloucestershire Show. Around 1,000 starts over the weekend, giving people their first taste of motorsport and offering passenger rides

Andy Laurence

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Revolution- March 2026