Dear members,

Unfortunately, August for most of us, has been spent in lockdown, and I know we have all been suffering with these current restrictions, but we have been doing our best to keep in contact with you all and give you something to look forward to. It is looking like we will be restricted for a while yet, so keep positive and look forward to when we can get back out and together again.

We did manage to get out for one weekend on 1 August for round 7 of the Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Broadford. It feels like a distant memory now but it was great to see so many take advantage of it and have a great day out at Broadford. It was a beautiful sunny day and fun was had by all. 

Our August members meeting was always scheduled to be a catch up via Zoom and it was great to see so many of our members log on.  We had a short presentation explaining some of the new initiatives we have introduced to the club, like our Welfare Team and our Officials Officer.

It was great to be able to introduce all of the Welfare Team and our Officials Officer to those who logged in and to also explain what their roles are within the club.  Members can view the August update from the Welfare team here.  At our meeting we also just had time to chat and go over some of the new merchandise items now in the store, so if you missed out be sure to check out our new items here.

We were then invited to join BMW Clubs and Community Management in Munich for a video tour on Friday 27 August, which was actually 2am on Saturday morning for us. A few of us logged in and were treated to a tour of the BMW Classic warehouse and a casual chat with the BCCM Team. It was great to chat to our friend Eva and see what is happening in the world of BMW. This virtual meeting will become a monthly item on our calendar and we have been assured that it won’t always be at 2am our time. They will try and make it a better time for us that will suit everyone else as well. They are very happy to answer any questions about BMW Classic or particular cars, so, if you want to know anything look out for the link to the next one and log in.

As a result of lockdown, we did have to cancel quite a few events, such as:

• 7 August - Winton Festival of Speed Display (cancelled)
• 15 August - Coffee & Cars Beaumaris (postponed)
• 21 August - Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship Round 8 at Phillip Island (cancelled, but a new date added in November)
• 22 August - Maling Road Display – (postponed until 6 February 2022)
• 29 August - German Auto Show (postponed to 30 January 2022)

Where possible we will postpone our own events to later dates, rather than cancelling them. As we go from week to week we will keep making announcements about the upcoming events. With this week’s reports that lockdown will continue into September, we will just have to keep playing it as it comes. This means Saturday’s Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship Round 9 at Sandown is cancelled and the following weekend, our already rescheduled trip to Port Fairy to go whale watching will be postponed again, likely until 2022.

We have been invited to join the BMW Drivers Club NSW on Friday, 3 September for an online Trivia night.  If it’s like the one we held last year it will be a bit of fun to join in on.

Then, until we can have some certainty in life again, we will go back to virtual events again, starting with a Virtual Car show via zoom on 7 September.  If you haven’t registered or sent photos of your cars into Lawrence at secretary@bmwdcm.com.au please do so as soon as you can.  It will be great to see what we are all hiding in our workshops and garages.  We will be happy to look at any projects you have happening too so these do not have to be photos of perfect cars, or even BMWs, we would just like to see what it out there.

The next display event was going to be at the Shannons Nationals at Sandown on 18-19 September, but the event has also been cancelled.

Our AGM will be held this year via Zoom on 21 September. You will have received your notices about the AGM, there are some great raffle prizes on offer for those logged in on the night, so make sure you register here and if you are unable to log in on the night, please send through your proxy vote so that the event can go ahead. We do need a quorum to hold the AGM, so please do virtually attend if you can.

We did receive some good news in August. We were approved for two of the Government grants that we applied for. One for equipment and one for training, totalling just over $11,000. Once we can, we will be sending 10 of our members/officials to do a first aid course at no cost to them, see the expression of interest on the website if you are interested in doing a first aid course to help us at events.  We will also be purchasing more equipment that we need to run the excellent club events we run. Things like the hi-vis official’s shirts, UHF radios and other items we need for track days. So, thank you to the Victorian Government and Minister Ros Spence for granting us the money to help our club grow. A full report on the grants received and how we spend the money will be tabled at the AGM in September.

If you have nothing to do one of these lockdown days, you should download the Wild Apricot Member App (click for Android or Apple) to your smartphone, log in to our database and update all your details - from cars you have, to just checking your contact details are up to date.  You can now also opt in or out of having a physical membership card because every member now has a digital card in the App. So if you don’t want to receive a plastic card each year, you can now let us know not to send you one.

Until we see what happens with this current lockdown and how long we are kept restricted we will just have to be patient and follow the rules. As soon as we can, we will set up events again and get back out and do the things we all love. Keep an eye on your emails and our Facebook group to see what is coming up. We have a lot of event ideas, as always, and we will get back out again as soon as we are allowed.

For now, take care, stay safe and get a jab so we can get past this and get back to what we love doing. Keep thinking about the future and look forward to when we can get back to normal. If you are feeling sad or lonely, pick up the phone and give me or the Welfare Team a call, we are here for you all, any time.

Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.

P.O. Box 81, TYABB   VIC   3913
Incorporated in Victoria #A0102695G
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc is a member of: BMW Clubs Australia and the BMW Clubs International Council
Motorsport Australia Affiliated Motorsport Club