Event date: 22 October 2022

'Glad it’s not my car’ I thought to myself as I was pinballing off the walls down the Esses at Bathurst. Thankfully I had no financial responsibility for the e30 m3 that would otherwise have been written off; main reason being that we experienced the Mountain in one of Motum’s Virtual Reality state of the art driving simulators.

Showing just how far technology and accessibility to it has come, BMWDCM members were punting around high end machinery around Bathurst, the ‘Ring, and Watkins Glen, trying to beat the score leaderboard or at least the person in the seat opposite them.

Towards the end of the night, a handful of somewhat competitive punters were determined to make it onto the leaderboard, track limits and obstacles be damned.

In all, was a very enjoyable experience and a less physically and financially risky proposition for those wanting to smash pb’s or sample other cars around the best tracks the world has to offer.

Just remember that stepping back into your car that the speeds are real, the obstacles are very real, and there’s no ‘reset’ button.

Igor Kay | Member #151
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne

BMWDCM in Full Motion Virtual Reality

We’re the Drivers Club, we love driving and we love racing even more. But sadly, not all of us are fortunate enough to own a race car, let alone be brave enough to get out onto race track in one. So when I saw Motum Simulators, I thought, this is perfect for our Members who either don’t have a race car or want to experience the next closest thing.

The Motum Simulators are a 6-axis full motion simulator with 360° virtual reality headsets and with endless cars and circuits to race on, they are truly the closest thing to the real McCoy. I approached Motum Simulators to arrange an event evening and they were completely on-board with it. They were aware of our Club and knew we had many racer members. 

10 BMWDCM Members quickly jumped on-board with this exciting new event, which booked out in 48 hours, and clearly the enthusiasm maintained right through the evening with some ultra-competitive head-to-head racing. 

After we all “qualified”, using the Formula Renault 3.5 at the Watkins Glen International Short Circuit, it was Killian Treacy and Royce Lyne who came out on top. With sub-1 minute times, they were very close to hitting the alltime Motum Leaderboard, missing out by just over 1 second. Regardless of this, their times were incredible - well done to those two guys. For those interested, the current leader is “Colin”, a very smiley Australia race car driver who loves papaya orange and shoey’s. 

Thanks for all the Members who supported this unique event and please stay tuned for the 2023 BMWDCM Simulator Driver Challenge.

Mark McDermott | Member #50
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne