What amazing driving weather we have been having, and April was no exception.

6^th April saw a large group of us attend the GT Racing and Shannon’s Speed Series at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.  Great weather but a little nip in the air kept the jackets on but some great racing was had all day.  Great fun had by all and some amazing racing.  It was good to have some of our members up in race control, March and April has been very busy for our race Officials with track events on pretty much for 7 weeks in a row.  Well done guys.

18^th April Good Friday appeal and WOW we filled the car park and had cars out on the road.  This was a huge day with the sun out again.  Great raffle prizes to be had and a nice figure of $1200 was raise for the Children’s Hospital.  Thank you to all who attended, helped out and presented their cars in such an amazing fashion.

23-27^th April was our big event at Caroline Springs and Calder Park - BMW Clubs Australia Nationals.   Some of us arrived on the Wednesday to start set up and get ready to start this fantastic event.  We had a dinner meeting and lots of laughs then straight to bed ready for what was a huge but fantastic weekend.  Check out our photo link to see some of the amazing photos taken over the weekend, with more coming in daily. 

It was so good to welcome all our national friends to our event and all over the weekend there were lots of smiles from all who attended.

The event started on Thursday with Registration and Check In and those who registered using the Nationals Package received some great gifts which were paced in their rooms. 

Thursday evening, we all met in the foyer to be coached in to Melbourne BMW for what was an outstanding cocktail night and presentation from Brendon from BMW Group Australia and Daniel from ASG and Melbourne BMW. 

Lawrence and the team had set up an amazing display of 3 series with a car from each series through all 7 generations.  They looked amazing, both Jo and I and I am sure everyone who attended were just thrilled with how they all looked.

Once the event had finished our members went back on the coaches and were safely taken back to our WestWaters Accommodation for a well-deserved sleep after quite a few of our guests had been driving for a few days to be with us.

Friday morning was forecast to be a bit wet but when we woke the sky was clear and it was quite warm and still .  Jo mentioned to me it was the first dawn service in Australia that she was actually warm.  It was lovely to see so many young people attending and so many of our members were up early to show their respect.

After the service they did a gun fire breakfast BBQ which was brilliant and then some Two Up which I must admit I have never played but it looked like a lot of fun.

Friday, we had 2 x guided drives which were very popular, both using TourBoss. 

Friday Night was our 70s theme night.  I will leave the photos do the talking for that, but I might say, the Trivia was brilliant and lot of fun had by all.  

Saturday was the big day at Calder and sadly the weather did not stay nice for us.  Some drizzle which then turned to light rain. 

This did not dampen our officials or members who all showed up and again I will let the photo tell the story, but what an amazing day was had by all.  Great stalls and trade stands.  Thank you to all who attended this and made it such and amazing day.

Saturday night was our presentation Dinner with special guest Speaker Bruce Stewart from WAUR (Walkinshaw Andretti United Racing)

Wow I knew Bruce was good, but his presentation was so powerful and made us all feel inspired to get up and achieve our goals.  Great presentation.

After that I did feel a little sorry for Professor Tony Walker for Prostate Cancer Foundation who followed with his presentation but also a powerful presentation and I think touched home to a few in the audience. Thank you to both these busy gentlemen for giving their time to make our night better.  Something Bruce said in the night which is very true, our Jo is a powerhouse and anything she asks for she usually gets and not many people say no to her as they know what she does, she does well and it would be worth their free time.

Silent Auctions and raffles on the night raised $3150.10 which all went to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.  Thank you all for giving so generously.

After the night was over and we stayed behind to pull down the decorations, some of us who had been a very important part of this event sat and breathed a sigh of relief that the event was nearly to an end and had been such a huge success.  We had so many people complimenting us on the weekend and it was all worth it in the end.  It has been a long journey but to see so many happy smiling faces is what it is all about. 

Sunday morning saw us at our farewell breakfast spending the last few hours with our old and new friends before they headed back to their homes or off on some more travels around Victoria. 

To BMW NSW who will be hosting the 2027 Nationals we would like to congratulate you on you bid and wish you all the best with your preparations for this event.  Be sure to have a great leader and a great team to assist you along the way.

As for a great team, ours was amazing, some only coming on at the last week which really counted and others working tirelessly for the past 18 months to make this event as successful as it was.  I will not name you all as I am bound to forget someone, but you know who you are and I thankyou all from the bottom of my heart.

Events to add to your diary:

10^th May Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship Round 5 at Sandown

24^th May Healesville Sanctury Drive and Family outing

31^st May Kaos Custom bike come and Try / Drivers Training – Broadford

7^th June Monarchs Long Weekend: Port Campbell and Shipwreck Coast

6^th July Christmas in July

23 October AGM

31 October – 9^th November Canberra Trip over Cup Long Weekend

22 – 23 November – Challenge Bathurst

At the Nationals we had a great 50 years of the 3 series T shirt which sold out within 1 hour.

We will be doing a rerun of this with pre orders.  Sizing is true to size so be sure to pick the correct sizing.

We also had a beautiful Soft-Shell jacket which was very successful as well and also sold out.

This will also be on pre order with both our club logo and the Nationals logo versions on offer.  This is a little snug so order 1 x size larger to not be disappointed. 

We made quite a show of the 50^th Anniversary of the 3 Series at the Nationals and at Phillip Is, as we will for all of our display events this year. So, order a T-shirt so you can join in the celebration of the 3 Series.

It has been a huge month, with the Nationals and everything else we normally do, so now we can take it a little easier and get back to our normal routine.

The Nationals was also great for our membership growth, we are very close to breaking through 1000 members, truly amazing! Welcome to all the new members joining us either through the Nationals or wherever you have found us. Remember, this is your club so make the most of it. We run a wide range of events to suit everyone’s taste, so take a loo at the calendar or check the event emails and come and join us.

Our edition 7 idrive magazine was released at the formal dinner at the Nationals too, so hopefully by now you have received your copy.

As always it is a fantastic publication and a credit to Jo and Jess’ efforts in gathering stories and putting it all together. We are always looking for stories for the website and for idrive, so if you have a story to tell send it in and it may just appear in the next edition.

Just to finish off, thank you again to everyone that helped make the Clubs Australia Nationals a huge success, definitely the best Nationals I have been to, especially Jo, who not only Chaired the Nationals Committee, but worked tirelessly for 2 years to plan and pull it all together. Such a huge job and one we can all be very proud of.

I look forward to seeing you out at an event somewhere soon, until then, take care on the roads, winter is coming and with it changeable driving conditions.

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