Dear Members,
It has been fantastic to get out and see everyone again and run some events this month.
June started off with a great virtual meeting about becoming a Motorsport Australia official, and we were joined by some of the heads of different officiating groups. We were overwhelmed by the number of members who joined us. The meeting started with our guests explaining the process of starting out and then touched on some of the job descriptions of different officiating positions. Q&A time came around and there were a lot of great questions asked by our members. I am happy to say that from this meeting, quite a few of our members have started the process of becoming an official. Well done all!
Our first social drive since lockdown was to Mount Macedon. It was fantastic to see so many of you again. Jo and I were also lucky to have been given a beautiful X4M from Mornington BMW. Three of their sales managers (also club members) attended in equally spectacular cars. You will have to look out for my write up on the X4M in the next edition of idrive! It was a pleasure to drive, excellent through the hills, plenty of overtaking power and very comfortable. I was very impressed.
The drive was amazing, thank you again to Peter for such amazing roads and great route instructions. The day was enjoyed by all that came, and it was great to see so many new members out in their cars. It was lovely to see our French members there too in a very peculiar not-quite-BMW. It's so nice to have international members.
On June 14 we had our first motorsport event after the COVID-19 restrictions, our Sandown Driver Training and Come & Try day. We were the first event under a Motorsport Australia permit since the easing of restrictions. The preparation for this event was enormous, as it had never been done before, but I am happy to say that the event sold out within four days and after many sleepless nights, lots of back and forward with Motorsport Australia and Sandown, the day arrived and the sun was out and it went off without a hitch.
It was different to how we normally run these events, but with a great team behind us and many of the new officials signed up after our June virtual meeting, we pulled off, what many say was an outstanding event. Thank you all who came along to helped on the day. Without our volunteers these events just can't happen. It was also fantastic to have Motorsport Australia media come along and do a video of the day.
We are still being very careful with social distancing and take all our event preparation very seriously. We ask all members if you are feeling slightly unwell, please do not attend an event and do seek medical advice.
We have invested in temperature checkers, signage, sanitiser and other PPE to ensure all who are attending events have their temperatures checked and we have all the necessary safety equipment, to make all volunteers and attendees feel comfortable. We also ask for all who attend events have the COVIDSafe app downloaded, so if anyone does fall ill, you will be able to be contacted immediately.
We finished out June with a return to go-karting at Auscarts, Port Melbourne. Only having competitors and no cheer squad in the gallery was a bit strange, but great to see our up and coming next generation of drivers teaching the old dogs new tricks. Well done Royce Lyne on your win!
Some interesting stats from our stat-guru-secretary this month - the Auskart event on Sunday was our 100th event! In a little over two years, no-one could say we don’t do much. The last 6 months alone we have run 16 events, even through lock down, which equates to more than one a fortnight. With our first motorsport event back after lockdown attracting 65 members, plus a few non-members.
Membership has continued to grow! We are now at 479 members and still growing, fast approaching the magical 500 mark! It still amazes me the passion and vibe of our little (or should I say not so little?) club, the atmosphere at events is always positive and happy and I am very proud of everything we have built together and just love it now we can get back out to what we love, even if ever so tentatively and carefully.
July is looking like an equally fun month starting with Round 5 of the BMWDCM Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Winton, also encompassing the BMW Clubs Cross Border Cup with the NSW BMW Club on 4 July (there are still a couple of spots left if you are very quick!). Our virtual meeting with our major sponsor, Traction Tyres is on 7 July. We also have our Christmas in July drive coming up on 18 July. Depending on how restrictions go over the next few weeks, this will either just be a drive, or we will be able to do lunch too. We also have another Come and Try day at Broadford on 25 July and Round 6 of the BMWDCM Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Broadford on 26 July. Entries for each of those will open soon.
It's so great to be back doing events and having a full calendar again. There may still be some challenges and last-minute changes depending on whether there are further restrictions. Be sure to keep an eye on our calendar and your emails for event alerts. Of course, you can always call or email too, we are always available to chat to members. Through lockdown we have had a few brilliant ideas, so there will be some new and interesting events coming in the later half of the year.
You may have noticed we have updated our website to a new, fresher look too, thank you Jess! Along with the amazing edition 2 of idrive magazine (which you should all now have), Jess is always busy in the background doing an absolutely amazing job making sure the club looks fantastic and runs like digital clockwork. Again, thank you Jess, we would be lost without you.
Take care stay safe and good health to you all.
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
Motorsport Australia Affiliated Motorsport Club
