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BMW Drivers Club Melbourne

An update from the President | June

30 Jun 2019 10:00 PM | Anonymous


 


Dear Members,

June was another very busy month, we started with the Monthly Member’s meeting at South Yarra BMW.  Many thanks to Riley and the Staff for a lovely evening checking out all the new cars and sampling the treats they had for us.  We also had Chris from Geelong Revival come along and tell us all about this year’s Geelong Revival and how the organisers are featuring our Club and BMW in a special area, both to celebrate BMW’s 40th anniversary in Australia, and also to celebrate our own achievements as a Club. It will be a great event to come along to and many thanks to Geelong Revival for offering us this very special opportunity.

We had a few members take their cars up to Winton for the Historics and put on a display and a lot of interest was shown in Lawrence’s little 700, as always, it is such an interesting car.

We had a very special invitation from BMW Group Australia, to come to Head Office in Mulgrave to meet and chat with the designer of the new BMW Z4, Calvin Luk. What a lovely young man. There were around 30 of our members, plus a few from BMW Car Club Victoria and the BMW Motorcycle Club who all had the chance to listen to Calvin tell his story of designing the new Z4 as well as how he came to work for BMW, very interesting. One of those events that can just pop up, so ensure you keep and eye on emails and the club calendar, you just never know when something special like this will happen.

On the Queen’s Birthday Weekend we went away touring the countryside, taking in the Murray Valley, Silo Art Trail and returning through the Grampians. What a fantastic event in every way. We had 40 people from DCM and Club MINI come along and enjoy some fantastic touring roads, lovely nights in nice motels and visited so many wonderful places along the route. Many thanks to Peter Williams for the drive route planning and Jo for her usual impeccable planning. Everyone had a ball and we got to see so many different aspects of our state. The group looked amazing on the road, if you look on the facebook page you will see some videos of us as well as lots of photos.

Next, we went to Broadford for Round 4 of the Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers' Championship. This was the first time we have hired a track in our own right, and it was a great success. We had lots of members come and help, as well as all those that attended and drove, and I must say a special thank you to them for coming and volunteering to help the club run such a good event. It was perfect weather as well and all had a great day out. There were quite a few people from other clubs there too and everyone had plenty of track time, with no incidents or hold ups to slow the day. Thanks again for coming and I look forward to our next track day at Winton on 20 July.

This month, we also ran a special event at the Shannons facility in Heatherton, where we held St John’s First Aid course for members to come along and learn about CPR, Emergency Life Support and General First Aid. This was an invaluable course, as the skills learned could come in handy at any time and could possible help someone save a life one day. I recommend everyone to do one of these courses if they can, you just never know what is around the corner. I personally have been the recipient of emergency first aid and when it counts these skills will save a life! The committee is thinking of running this as an annual event too, so if you are interested, let Jo or I know. This is actually a RTO Certificate Course, so as well as a few new skills you get a nationally recognised Certificate as well.

Amazingly, half the year is gone already, and July has some great events to look out for, our Members Meeting on Tuesday 2 July looks very interesting, visiting an electric truck company that manufactures and exports electric trucks. Christmas in July is always a very popular and fun event, this year with a drive and lunch in the hills at Noojee. I wonder if it will snow this year, regardless, it will be a fun event, with the usual silly jumper competition etc. Look out for other events on the calendar too, always something coming up, whether it’s one of our events or something we are invited to by one of the clubs we do events with.

At our Driver Training & 2019 Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers' Championship Round 5 at Winton, we have invited BMW Car Club Victoria, BMW Drivers Club NSW and BMW Car Club Canberra to join us to continue the tradition of what used to be a fantastic weekend of inter club fun and on track (friendly) rivalry between the NSW and Victorian Clubs and we would love and make this another fantastic inter-club event on the calendar each year. We need our members to enter and compete for the inaugural BMW Club Champion of Winton that we are instigating, where each driver will compete for points toward their club winning a perpetual trophy for the event each year. Not sure how we will work this out just yet, but should be a bit of fun anyway… Of course, if you’d like to come and help us run the event, we are always welcoming of anyone that would like to help as an official for the day.

There are a couple of events coming up in following months that you should start thinking about too. Our first AGM will be in October, if anyone is thinking of standing for a position on the committee, keep an eye out for notices in the next few months. The Bathurst 12 Hour package we did for 2019 is open now. If you’d like to join us at the Mountain for one of the best motorsport events you will ever see, contact Jo for details on inclusions and prices. The December weekend away with NSW and Canberra Clubs will be up soon too, again, another fantastic event that will happen every year.

Membership is now at 402. We are very happy with the retention rate of members and the continued growth of our little club. Thank you to all of you that continue to support the club, and welcome to all the new members, I hope you enjoy everything the club has to offer.

I look forward to seeing you at an event soon. If you have an idea for an event, don’t hesitate to tell us, we are always open to new ideas and welcome member input to make the club what you want it to be.

Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.

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




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