Dear members,
August was a slower month but still lots of great events happening along the way.
9 August we started with our members meeting track Information night at Shannons Insurance. It was great to be back in the club rooms and equally nice to have such a huge attendance from club members. Jo put on a great powerpoint presentation and each member went home with an information booklet which I am sure will be very helpful for future track events. Lots of questions were asked on the night and this will definitely be a bi-yearly event for new and existing members to learn more about driving and officiating.
12-14 August quite a few of our club members competed in the VSCRC E30 Racing Round 4 at Sandown and it was great to see so many E30s out there. We had a field of 17, two members out on flags on Saturday, several members joining the Bell Motorsport camp to help prepare the cars ready for the races. Thank you to all who came along, having so many helpers enabled me to get out and race after one of our members woke up sick on Sunday and offered his car to me, to join in the fun. Going from 17th to 3rd in the first race on Sunday and then 3rd to 1st for a few laps to finally concede the lead to the current champion and also one of my customers Alex Jory. Great racing by all who attended a massive thank you to everyone who came along and supported this event. Great to see I can still do it.
18-21 August was the Penrite Oil Sandown Supercars Super Sprints, which had quite a few of our club members attending as officials. Jo and I were there as well, and we had a few newbies in pit lane loving getting up close and personal to the cars and the drivers. Another great event and this is why Jo pushes so hard about becoming an official, you get to do cool stuff like this and attend for free and get lots of special goodies given to you as a thank you. We picked up a few new members at this event, welcome Emma and Brock who were part of Jo’s team and just loved the whole experience. Great to see these two have already registered for the Bathurst 1000 as officials too. We look forward to seeing you both track side at more events. With each official who attends these events you get a guest pass, which enabled at least 10 of our members free entry over the weekend which is also brilliant.
23 August was our drop in donuts night, this is always a great relaxed night with members dropping in and out to enjoy each other’s cars, chat about life and just catch up. Thank you to Lawrence who runs these nights and always enjoys a chat, coffee and a donut or two.
Sunday, 28 August saw over 50 cars and bikes turn up at our “what else is in our garage coffee and cars” event. While Jo, Jess and I headed up to Armidale for Jess’s graduation ceremony, I’d like to thank Mark McDermott for organising and supervising this event. Great to have new blood helping out our very busy event organising team. The photos looked amazing and great having so many cars come out of the shed for everyone to see. Of course, we are very passionate BMW lovers, but we are also car lovers, and it is great to see there are lots of members with the same passion for other cars as well.
Mark did a fantastic job co-ordinating all the cars and what a great turn out of exotic and rare vehicles. We even had bikes along which was terrific, thank you again Mark for volunteering to run this event, it allowed us time to get away but still offer the members something great to attend.
September will hopefully bring us some warmer weather, as Spring arrives and we have some great events lined up for you to enjoy.
3 September is round 6 of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Sandown. If you have entered, Jo has reserved 10 garages under BMWDCM so we can all be parked together, so if you are booking a garage, ask Brendan to use one of those reserved, if there are any left. These days are not racing, it is sprints which is a timed event which you need to just try to better your own time each session. If you have done the come and try days, these are very similar, but with a timing device in your car. It is the next step up for those that want a little friendly competition mixed with their track days. Talk to Jo or I if you want to know more or aren’t sure what to do. Spectators are welcome to join us and watch from pit lane and have a chat with all those driving.
6 September is our club’s AGM. We encourage as many members to attend on this night please, as we will need a quorum for any new items to be voted on and passed. It will be held at the German Tivoli Club again this year and if you want to join in the fun, come dressed in your Dirndl or Lederhosen and have some fun on the night with a German theme. Your committee will be dressed up, so why not come and join us. Come early and enjoy the great food and drinks (at members own cost). After the formalities we will be going through a few positions which we are wanting help with. These are not full-time roles and not roles which need to be voted on, just roles which we need a hand with to make our lives easier moving forward. If you are interested in helping our club grow and become even better than it already is, then please come along and enjoy the evening.
17 September is the next event, we are touring up to Shepparton to our new sponsors Shepparton BMW for a private tour and lunch at their new dealership, which is the first in the country to be built to the new BMW Corporate model and only the third in the world. It's a fantastic dealership and we look forward to holding more events with them in 2023. After lunch we all head off to MOVE (Museum of Vehicle Evolution) which I have been told is just amazing. There will be a couple of special surprises there too, so you’ll have to come along and see what they are.
23-25 September has a large group of us again racing down at Phillip Island for round 5 of the E30 Racing Championship. Come down and help out the crew or just join in the fun on the day. This is a State Championship race meeting, so always lots of different categories to see, as well as the E30s. Jo will be Assistant Secretary at this event, so will be at the base of the tower if you need any help with anything or just want to pop in and say hi.
Events to put in your diaries are:
2023
Our new merchandise is flying off the shelves, so put in your orders now, so as to not miss out on your sizing. We now have editions 1, 2 and 3 of idrive for sale if you are wanting to collect them and have every edition in your collection. There is limited stock of these so order now to not miss out.
For all those attending Challenge Bathurst, we have a team shirt which does need to be pre ordered. Orders need to be in and fully paid before the end of September.
Membership is still growing strong, and we are very proud of how many new members that join up each month. Welcome to all those new members, I look forward to meeting you at an event somewhere, if we haven’t already met.
As a reward for existing members, we are starting a new initiative. All renewals and new memberships for each quarter will go into the draw for a prize. This will be done each quarter and drawn at the end. We are also encouraging all our members to refer a friend family member or work colleague to join, just remember when your friend sings up, ask them to put your name down as a referral and your name will also go in the draw for the quarterly draw. Your name can go in multiple times, if you refer 10 friends in a quarter you get 10 entries. This will start at the first of October.
I am very proud of how our little club has grown into one of the best clubs in the world, put mainly I am proud of our members who make this club as good as it is. When we attend events as see families with little ones joining in on the fun and parents bringing their learner drivers out on our drive days, this shows me that we are doing it right.
Please remember without you, we are only four people and we need your help, so join us at events, put your hand up to help, even if it is just taking photos or helping pack up at the end of the day. Every little bit makes it easter for us all.
Take care out there and I look forward to seeing you at an event soon.
Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
PO 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
