Aerodynamics play a key role in determining the top speed of a World Superbike. Even the smallest of details can make a big difference here. The goal is to keep the aerodynamic drag as low as possible. The BMW Group Acustic Wind Tunnel in Munich (GER) has everything the BMW Motorrad Motorsport engineers need to test and develop aerodynamic updates for the RR used in WorldSBK.
However, to simulate the flow conditions as realistically as possible, it is not enough to simply position the bike in the wind tunnel by itself. Out on the racetrack, there is also a rider on the bike, creating his own air resistance, even if his riding position has also been optimised aerodynamically. For that reason, the whole package of motorcycle and rider is used in the airflow, which is generated by the wind tunnel’s 2,600-hp electric motor and can reach speeds of up to 255 km/h. To make this possible, BMW Motorrad Motorsport has turned to an innovative method: 3D scanning.
“Eugene was here in Munich with us before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. He was trying to find the ideal sitting position on the RR and, while he was in that position, we took detailed measurements with a 3D scanner,” said BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Marc Bongers. Detailed measurements means every individual glove finger, every contour of the helmet, every seam in the leather overalls, every crease that affects the aerodynamic drag and with it the airflow. “Based on the data from the 3D scan, we created a plastic model made of two halves. It took about a week to get all the details right, however our 3D Eugene was then ready for action,” Bongers added.
Since then, the plastic Laverty has been providing a very important service. He has racked up over 50 test runs in the wind tunnel. “Using a 3D model like this allows us to work more efficiently on development of our RR,” explains Bongers. “While a real rider must travel to get here, the plastic version is available at any time for testing in the wind tunnel. This means that we can evaluate and implement updates even faster.” Another major advantage of the 3D model became particularly apparent during the coronavirus-enforced break. While WorldSBK riders Laverty and Tom Sykes (GBR) were unable to travel to Munich due to travel restrictions, plastic Laverty was waiting in Munich, ready to get back on the RR in the wind tunnel.
So, what does the real Laverty make of his double? “He’s just a few shades paler than my Irish complexion,” said a chuckling Laverty, referring to the light plastic used to make the model. “All joking aside, it was a little unusual to sit on the bike for so long and to be measured from every angle with a 3D scanner. However, the result is awesome. I can do my bit to make our RR faster without having to be in Munich in person. It’s not every day you get to see yourself as such a detailed model. It is fascinating what is possible with modern technology, and the BMW Group is leading the way in many areas in this regard.”
Following the break for the coronavirus, it has now also been possible to measure team-mate Sykes in Munich. His 3D model will soon also see action in the wind tunnel. The next races for the optimised RR, the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and the real drivers will take place on the first weekend in August. The 2020 WorldSBK season, which was suspended after the opening round in Australia, will resume at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
BMW PRESS
In preparation for production of the fully-electric BMW i4, BMW Group Plant Munich will pause vehicle production for six weeks this summer. No cars will be produced between the end of the late shift on 23 July and the start of the early shift on 7 September. Plant Munich will take advantage of this break in production to implement numerous structural and remodelling measures before the fully-electric BMW i4 goes into standard production next year. “We are gearing up our Munich plant for the future. Once remodelling is finished, we will be able to produce vehicles with diesel, petrol and hybrid drive trains, as well as the fully-electric BMW i4, all on the same line. This will allow us to respond flexibly to customer demand,” said plant director Robert Engelhorn. Integrating the BMW i4 into the existing production system will be a major challenge for Plant Munich. The high-voltage battery makes the BMW i4 body concept different to that of the vehicle models previously built at the plant. Nevertheless, about 90 percent of the existing production systems used in the body shop can be integrated and enabled for future BMW i4 production. Only 10 percent – specifically, equipment used in production of the rear end – cannot be integrated, because of the high-voltage battery, and require new systems to be set up. The high-voltage battery in the BMW i4 is installed from below. A new and separate battery assembly will be set up for this within vehicle assembly. “Confined structures make any remodelling and installation measures at Plant Munich particularly challenging. Old systems have to be removed, and new ones installed and put into service, in very tight spaces within six weeks. This takes meticulous planning and a lot of creativity,” underlined Engelhorn. As well as installing new systems, existing production equipment will also have to be converted so the BMW 3 Series Sedan and BMW 3 Series Touring – both with combustion engines and hybrid drive train, the new BMW M3 and the fully-electric BMW i4 can all be produced on the same line. This production interruption has been planned and prepared for since early 2019. Virtual reality (VR) is also being used across the board in transmission and final assembly to optimise future processes. The VR pilot project provides a sneak preview of planned structures and processes, increases planning accuracy in the early phases of a project and reduces planning time. Employees are able to get a feel for their new workplace in a VR training space. VR goggles provide them with a glimpse of their new working environment and planned work processes. As a result, employees often come up with ideas for improvement that enable new operations to be optimised in advance and adapted for rollout. From 28 August, systems will be refilled so production can resume after the break and, starting with the early shift on 7 September, vehicles can once again roll off the production lines at the main plant in Munich. Certain areas of the Munich plant, such as engine production, will continue to operate at full scale to secure supplies for the global production network.
Farfus rolled out of the garage at the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3 for the first time at 9:40hrs last Saturday and set about completing the first important function tests. The BMW Motorsport engineers spent the whole day putting the new GT car, which will replace the BMW M6 GT3 from the 2022 season, through its paces. The first tests are scheduled to take place on the track at the BMW Group’s test centre in the southern French commune of Miramas next week.
“It is always an emotional moment when a newly-developed BMW race car takes to the track for the first time,” said Marquardt. “This time, however, I am particularly proud. Given the difficult conditions of the past few months, it is quite remarkable that we have managed to implement our development programme as planned, and whilst complying with the BMW Group’s strict safety and hygiene regulations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, have managed to stick to the date originally envisaged for the rollout of the BMW M4 GT3. I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has shown such commitment and the passion we have become accustomed to in the face of the extraordinary challenges faced in recent months, and who have overcome these challenges imperiously. Thanks to the very close and intensive collaboration with our colleagues at BMW M GmbH, we have been able to use the basis provided by the new BMW M4 production model to develop a race car that has everything it needs to continue the successful history of BMW Motorsport as a new GT icon.”
Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW M GmbH: “With every BMW M4, we are taking motor racing technology to the streets. That is particularly true of the new BMW M4 Coupé, which forms the perfect basis for the race car. The straight six-cylinder engine with M TwinPower turbo technology and high-rev concept is used in both the production car and the race car. Our engineers designed the power unit from the outset with performance characteristics derived straight from the world of motor racing. We are confident that this approach will pay dividends in terms of performance and driving pleasure for both our GT3 customer teams at the racetrack and for our customers who purchase a new BMW M4 or BMW M3.”
The race car and production car were developed in parallel, and both are now in the midst of an intensive period of testing out on the track. The production versions of the new BMW M4 Coupé and the BMW M3 Limousine (combined fuel consumption: 10.9 – 10.5 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 249 – 239 g/km, provisional figures) will be launched in September. The BMW M4 GT3 will contest its first races, for the purpose of testing under competitive conditions, in 2021 and will do battle for victory as the new BMW icon on the GT racing scene from the 2022 season. Between now and then, the BMW Motorsport engineers and BMW works drivers still have a lot of development and testing to do.
"It was fantastic and a great honour for me to be able to drive the first few metres in the new BMW M4 GT3,” said Farfus after the rollout. “I have been involved in the development of several BMW race cars and am always particularly pleased to be a part of such an important project. Although our main job during the rollout is to perform functional tests, I had a good feeling in the car from the outset and am already looking forward to the tests scheduled for the coming months.”
The rollout in Dingolfing was a milestone and a highlight of the development process, which began back at the start of 2019 with CFD computer simulations. The engine, generating more than 500 hp, took to the test stand in Munich in February, while initial tests were performed in the BMW Group wind tunnel from the middle of the year, using a 60-percent scale model of the car. The first test chassis of the BMW M4 GT3 was produced at the BMW Group plant in Regensburg (GER) in early 2020. After that, the test car used for the rollout was assembled within roughly six weeks in the BMW Motorsport workshop.
Interested parties can contact BMW Motorsport about the BMW M4 GT3 by E-mail: M4GT3@BMW-Motorsport.com.
Dear Members,
Welcome to another lockdown newsletter.
Like many of you, we are genuinely concerned about the current situation in and around Melbourne and what it means for our current stage 3 restrictions. Will we go to stage 4, we just don't know what will that look like and how long for. There are lots of questions and not many answers right now, which is probably the most concerning thing each day as we look at the news to see how many more are added to the infected tally.
It is hard to plan external events and anything going forward until we see a decline in numbers, a fall in new cases and then some certainty in what the coming weeks will hold. However, we do have lots of ideas for virtual meetings and other ways to keep everyone engaged whilst we wait out the restrictions and then start back down the road to recovery. Once we are able we will have so many events ready to go, you won’t have a weekend to spare!
In the meantime, we will continue with our Zoom virtual meetings. Our next monthly meeting is a virtual meeting at Shannons Showroom with a tour of the cars getting ready for the next classic vehicle auction. This will be on Monday, 3 August instead of our normal first Tuesday of the month.
Following the Shannons meeting we will have a virtual event with Jay Leno’s Garage on Tuesday, 18 August to keep us up to date with the range of products and show us again how good they are.
We are planning some other virtual events and we welcome your suggestions on anything that you might like to see us do, whether it be a virtual cars and coffee meeting from your own driveway or something else.
Whilst we are in lockdown go onto our fresh new website and check out our merchandise range. We have recently received some new merchandise and with the new regulations regarding face coverings coming in this week for those in Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, we will very soon have our own three layer re-usable DCM facemasks in stock for you to use when out and about. As soon as they are in we will get them up and let everyone know.
Club permit renewals We again ask that for the forseeable future to post your club permit renewal to us with a stamped, self-addressed envelope so we can sign it and send it back the same day we get it. This is the best, safest option for all of us.
We want to do our part in limiting the number of people out and about and the number of people we are coming into contact with. We are available for new registration inspections by appointment only. For more information on club permit renewals, please visit our club permit page.
Memberships There are some interesting facts come out of the current situation - in the beginning we were worried that retaining memberships would be difficult and certainly, finding new members would be even harder. However the exact opposite has happened for us. Since the start of our first lockdown our membership has increased by 75 new members. Our member attendance at our four virtual meetings and the four in-persion events between the first and second lockdown was 260. It's quite amazing really. To those who have joined during lockdown, we can't wait to meet you in person once we're all able!
I, for one, am utterly amazed at how well our little club has grown right from the start, but to continue to grow and prosper through all we are going through is truly amazing. I am immensely proud to say, that very soon we will be hitting the magic 500 (active) members number! Just wow! I think what we have all built together is a credit to each and every one of you, and I thank you all for joining us and continuing to support our club.
From all of us on the DCM committee to all of our members, whether you are in lockdown or not, we are here to support you and will do everything we can to keep the club active as we all work through the restrictions currently in place. Of course, if you have any ideas for virtual events or have anything interesting to share, projects you might be working on, or anything at all, please contact Jo or myself and let us know your ideas. We're more than happy to take ideas on or help you to do something.
Keep safe, look after yourself and your family, social distance, do the right thing and stay home if you can. Together we will get through this.
Graeme Bell | President BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
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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
Event date: 7 July 2020
Tyres. They’re the black bits which stop the wheels clattering on the road right? Well, Yes, but they do a lot more than that!
Tyres are the last and possibly most important link between you, the driver, and the road. Ultimately the tyres determine how well the car rides, how noisy it is, how well it brakes and turns, how much fuel the car uses and how safe you, your passengers and other road users around you are.
So, they are worth a bit of attention and understanding.
And who better to de-mystify some aspects of the art of tyres than Andrew McCathie from Traction Tyres who kindly hosted our virtual members meeting on Tuesday, July 7.
As a quick aside, whilst virtual meetings are not as friendly as physical ones, everyone gets a ringside seat, which is great.
Andrew explained that there are 3 critical parts of a tyre: tread compound (the mix of rubbers, carbon and other secret ingredients but no herbs or spices), the tyre carcass or structure (what the casing of the tyre is made of and its construction), and tread pattern (which is the bit most people look at and choose more on its artistic merit than function).
It was fascinating to hear that tread design, the most easily observed part of all this, has pretty well gone full circle (no pun intended) from the 1960’s and 70’s when little slits running out to the side of the tyre were all the go. These “sipes” are designed to carry water away from under the tyre.
I fondly remember the adverts for Dunlop’s 1968 AquaJets which claimed to use the squish of the tyre as it meet the road to actually pump water out of the side. Up to 30 litres per second.
But Andrew pointed out that these slits separate the tread blocks from each other and allow them to move about, creating noise and wear and reducing performance.
We have probably all seen the slick, treadless tyres used on race cars such as F1. These are great for grip but no good in even mildly wet conditions.
And herein lies the eternal quest for the perfect compromise between performance and practicality.
So the slits went out of fashion to a degree but have returned, with the subtle twist of not actually joining up to the main grooves and thus helping to stabilise the tread and reducing wear.
Only he made it sound more interesting.
The other critical thing I picked up on was he mentioned a tyre’s “flex point”, the sort of hinge between the sidewall (the vertical bit) and the tread (the horizontal bit), which profoundly influences how a tyre reacts to grooves and ridges along the road, such as the tendency to follow tram lines, hence the term “tram lining”.
Whilst excessive tram lining can be due to a steering alignment issue (which Traction Tyres can also help you with) it is often due to the wrong tyre for the car’s design.
If I learnt nothing else form Andrew’s expert explanations, I learnt that it takes an expert to guide you through the process of choosing the right tyre for your car and needs and that is all the more critical when selecting tyres for track use, or even deciding whether to go for a tyre which will do road and track if that is your intent.
On the track having the wrong tyre may cost you several seconds per lap. On the road it may cost you extra metres in stopping distance even with ABS and the difference between hitting something hard, or not.
Lawrence Glynn | Member #3 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
Photo: Paul Holliday Event date: 4 July 2020
When we got to the track and parked right down the back because the truck was to big to park anywhere else, and then Stan parked next to us which was good. Then it felt like 10 minutes before group 1 went out and I reckon I went to the toilets 10 times to! Lucky I was parked close to them or else I would of had to get out my little electric scooter to get to them.
Anyway I went out there and had the most fun in my life because this time I wasn’t getting lapped every second lap by PK and Stan and every other E30 racer especially Jess, because this time I was that little bit faster which really made a difference! Everyone was really fast but still getting used of the track and so was I. When I came in and found out that I did a 2.05 I was pretty surprised but I was just happy that everyone went well and had a good time.
Then I watched dad go out in group 3 with all the big M2, and M4 BMW’s and also a really nice M46 which was really fast, dad had a ball and got some really good times. His fastest time was a 1.34.6!
When my group went out next everyone was really good, but I saw just before turn 3 a orange car had broken down on the side of the track and i didn’t know if it was Alex or PK, but other than that everything went well. As I came in I was driving down to the truck and drove straight passed dad because I didn’t know it was him and then when I got to the truck he wasn’t there so I looked back and he threw his hands up in the air because I didn’t take him in the car, I knew he wouldn't be happy about that so I cleverly distracted him with “that was awesome”!
Next session I went out with heaps of confidence and I think alot of people did because they had worked out how to go through the changes between 3 and 4, and also because they just hadn’t been on the track for a while, so when I went out I pushed the car harder and it was so much fun. Critter was in one of the race E30s and was right behind me for a few milliseconds before he passed me like I was standing still.
When we got in from that session he told me some stuff which was really good advice and the next session when I went out I picked up 2 seconds which was really good, and I could notice the difference in the car and how much better it handled the corners and that “slow in fast out” is better than “fast in and slow out”. But also when I got in I saw that team Kertes were having fuel issues but I saw Critter and Belly were straight on it and fixed the problem as usual. Alex’s car that he had to drive home also had something broken in it so he couldn't take it on track.
After all of that it was looking like a really good battle between NSW and VIC and once again NSW won and they did deserve it. Thankyou Jo, Belly, and Critter for all your help. And also all the officials because I don’t know how they can stand there all day. I can’t wait to meet everyone at Broadford!!!
Royce Lyne | Son of Simon Lyne, member #406 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
On Saturday, 4 July we were at Winton for Round 5 of the 2020 Yokohama/Traction Tyres Drivers Championship, and man was it good to be on track again!
The weather was perfect all day, clear, cool, sunshine, and an even better sunrise across the track (did I mention how good it was to be back on track?!).
I’m sure many of you reading this will understand that feeling of walking the track at 7am, everything is still and quiet, the sun coming up over the horizon painting the race track in gold.... It’s the most amazing way to start a day, especially when you then hear the engines in the garages and paddock fire up.
Watching the mechanics and support crews getting busy in the garages, makes the place buzz, and it was just like this for our day at Winton.
There were some gorgeous cars being unloaded and rolling out of garages, and the comradery amongst participants, even amongst those across borders, as this was a VIC vs NSW battle for the cup, was epic to see.
There was such a great buzz in the air and it was a credit to Jo Mawson and Graeme Bell for this. Again they had delivered not only a polished and professional motorsport event, especially with all the added rules and restrictions due to COVID, but an event that everyone was so happy to be a part of. A great culture of mateship and friendship, no matter what you drive.
As a Motorsport official, this is why I do it - it’s the comradery of the motorsport community that I love, as well as the joy of watching some really talented drivers (that Bell family sure can drive!), the sound and smell of a track day! Absolutely love it!!
I had such an amazing day marshalling the grid and managing the pit release, there’s no greater feeling then being up close to vehicles firing up to go out on track! The drivers were all so courteous and I had a great chat to many of them about their cars and passion for driving.
Many of the drivers specifically got out of their cars once they were lined up in the pre grid to thank me for the hard work and long day. As an official, you rarely get this from drivers, and again it’s a testament to the amazing culture Jo and Graeme have created for BMWDCM.
Thanks for an awesome day guys, it was one of the best track days I’ve had in a long time!!
Job extremely well done!
Meg Boers | Member #556 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
Finally, we were getting good news and restrictions were lifting slowly. We had a fantastic attendance at our Mt Macedon drive and two fully booked track days at Sandown and Winton. Unfortunately, as you all know, most of Melbourne will be back in lockdwon for six weeks from midnight tonight.
Further lockdowns mean we have had to cancel our Broadford Come and Try/Driver Training Day on 25 July and AROCA have also cancelled their sprint on at Broadford on 26 July, which would have been Round 6 of our BMWDCM Yokohama/Traction Tyres Drivers Championship. We will refund anyone that has booked and paid for the Come and Try/Driver Training event. I have asked if there are any dates later in the year at Broadford that we can transfer the booking to, but with the uncertainty around everything at the moment we might have to leave it for a few weeks and see how this latest outbreak and restrictions go.
Our Christmas in July drive has also been cancelled and at at this stage our Stony Creek Go Kart drive and ride is likely to be postponed. Keep an eye on your emails and our events page for updates on our events.
We are still available to do club plate renewals and new applications. By post is preferred, however if you must come in person please call ahead to arrange a suitable time.
As with the previous lockdown, we will continue to do all we can to keep members engaged and give you something to think about and be involved with. We won’t ever leave you hanging and wondering what’s going on. We are here if you need anything, even just a chat.
We will continue with our Zoom virtual members meetings like last night’s launch of the new AO52 Yokohama high performance tyre with Andrew from Traction Tyres.
From all of us on the BMWDCM committee, to all of our members, whether you are in lockdown or not, we are here to support you and will do everything we can to keep the club active as we all work through the new restrictions currently in place.
Keep safe, look after yourself and your family, social distance and do the right thing. Together we will get through this.
P.O. Box 81, TYABB, VICTORIA. 3913Incorporated 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
Our thanks to BMW Drivers Club Melbourne for the mammoth task in arranging and managing a Motorsport event in Victoria under Covid-19 regulations. Well done team. I do have an understanding of the challenge to make this happen in the Victorian Coronavirus world. We escaped before your Captain Dan locked you away.
21 of our club Supersprint Drivers enjoyed Winton on a wonderful, mostly sunny with no wind, Victorian winter's day. You could not have arranged that better.
We have celebrated our defence of our win of the inaugural Cross Border Challenge last year even though this year it was by the smallest possible margin. I think next year we may host the Cross border challenge at Wakefield Park. What do you think?
In our group, Josh Davis and Richard Wodhams covered the most laps with 33. Our overall fastest was Ed Kreamer in his 4 wheel drive. NSW fastest BMW was Justin Bisset with Justin Lowery not too far behind. New comers this year, Ashleigh Sherry and Bram Williams went well with Bram, sharing his father's car, going faster!
All the results are published on https://www.bmwclubnsw.asn.au/motorsport-results.
Bob Williams | Motorsport DirectorBMW Drivers Club New South Wales
After a long drive from Sydney on the Friday and a delicious pub dinner in the evening I slept well. I woke in Benalla to a chilly 4degrees but my excitement and anticipation for the day ahead was encouragement enough to help me leave my toasty motel room and venture across the road to Macca’s for coffee and a hash brown.
First, I packed my car, which takes next to no time for three reasons:
Upon arrival at the entry gate everyone had to have their temperature checked. I was informed that I had the lowest temperature recorded so far, even with heated seats and five layers on, I was freezing. Lawrence kindly instructed me on where to park and I still managed to go the wrong way.
My initial thoughts about Winton Raceway were around the convenience of the fuel stop, the fancy garages and the temperature. As I prepared for the day, I reflected on the lowdown I received from various friends on Winton and its intricacies: what gears I would likely need for which corner, the bump on the main straight and knowing when to hit the brakes, what speeds I will get up to, but all I could really focus on was checking out the ‘tree’ and not crashing into it.
After being called out on the loudspeaker a couple of times (sorry Jo), I grabbed my wristband and was able to do some sighting laps and tree spotting. The track was quite wet and perhaps I had an advantage with street tyres, but it was definitely an adjustment after many track days with semis. The sighting laps were a useful introduction for Winton first timers which I would definitely recommend.
The following sessions were full of many learnings and mistakes like ‘Oops I’m in the wrong gear… again.’ I developed a love/hate relationship with the back section of the track (before the tree). I didn’t feel like two hands were enough to sufficiently steer and change gear. I’d get one corner sorted and stuff up the next, but that’s all part of the fun.
The day flew by and the sun decided to come out for the last session. I’d been progressively lowering my tyre pressures all day, but I decided to drop them by a further 4psi and it made a noticeable difference to the handling, far less understeer and it increased the number of good laps I was getting out of the tyres. This session for me was the most exhilarating. My nerves were gone, I felt relaxed and my car was sounding divine. To end the day on a good note, I knocked 5 seconds off my PB set in one of the earlier sessions (phew!).
All competitors, the wonderful organisers and volunteers all appeared to have an equally as rewarding day. NSW had a strong turnout at 20 participants, to name a few, Josh Davis in his E36 M3, Randall in his Porsche 911 and Jordan McLachlan in the E30 and Bob Williams and his son Bran who returned from the track after 20 years of hibernation, they shared the 123d. The cup was presented to Vice President Ian McLachlan and victory was declared to NSW by only half a point.
Will I attend more track days at Winton? Absolutely, it may well be my new favourite track.
How would I describe Winton in one word? Tricky.
What would I do differently next time? I’d bring cable ties and side cutters.
Ash Sherry | Member BMW Drivers Club New South Wales
With the World going into lockdown in March with this dreadful Global Pandemic, no one knew when we would be able to get back out onto the racetrack and be able to hold another event. Slowly over the months, Australian numbers were going down and our Government restrictions were slowly being lightened and there was a light at the end of tunnel.
BMWDCM had Sandown booked for 14 June and we were all praying that we would be able to hold this event, as we all love a Sandown track day. Weeks went by and things were looking good with numbers growing for public gatherings and especially at sporting venues.
Graeme was in constant contact with Sandown and Motorsport Australia, regarding our requirements and three weeks before our event day, we had our supplementary regulations approved so the event would proceed.
We put out the entries and the registrations went nuts, we sold out within four days and then applied to extend the event to 60 drivers, which was approved, and those further 10 spots sold out within days.
Regulations changed by the day and sometimes by the hour, which made it very frustrating, as things we had done one way and then needed to be done another. There were many very late nights, some into the very early hours but we needed to do this so that this event could go ahead.
We had social distancing signs made, bought touchless temperature gauges, we had hand sanitiser for all officials and drivers, face mask, disposable gloves, you name it we did everything within in our power to make sure all drivers, officials and crew were safe on the day.
We had a limit of 150 people attending Sandown and a list was collated from the COVID attendance forms, which each entrant was sent prior to the event. There was some confusion with these forms and not all were filled in correctly which did cause some delays at the gate, but all got through eventually and I thank you all for your patience.
We had also sent out other official paperwork which needed to be completed and brought to the event and most did this correctly. Knowing that this was something different from our normal check in, I did make sure I had plenty of spare forms for those who had not completed them. There were a few but these few entrants still managed to fill in their forms and get checked in with very minimal fuss.
We had stated in our supplementary regulations that the drivers briefing would be at 9.45am and at 9.45am our Clerk of Course, Graeme Bell, was reading the drivers briefing notes out over the PA system. Shortly after that we had our sighting laps and then managed to have our first car out on track in group 1 at 10.03am. I was pretty happy with the way we managed to get our first check in completed successfully on time.
We did have several heads of other motorsport clubs attend to watch how we managed the social distancing and motorsport. It was so nice to hear so many compliments from everyone on how great the day ran. We did learn a few things from our first event and this was always going to happen. When you have never done anything under these conditions before you just do it to learn what is going to work and what doesn't work.
With our next event only three weeks after at Winton, once we had our supplementary regulations approved again from Motorsport Australia, we put in a few changes that we found took up too much time from our previous event.
All paperwork was to be sent through beforehand so it could all be checked. A formal entry list was collated from the COVID attendance forms with drivers and crew names on there beforehand. Licences were checked through the online licence checker and after some back and forth with members to get all the right forms completed prior to the weekend check in was much easier than Sandown, only taking approximately 30 minutes to complete.
In early June we held a virtual meeting on how to become a motorsport official. We had a massive attendance via Zoom, which enabled us to have a huge amount of volunteer officials for both events.
It is not looking like COVID will be leaving us soon so we all need to be very vigilant on everything we do and how we run all events.
This system we have now put in place may be the new normal for a while and some of the procedures may stay with us as a club moving forward. It does cause more work before hand, but at the track, if we can get the drivers out quickly, then we all are happy and willing to put in the hard yards.
Stay safe, social distance and stay healthy.
Jo Mawson | Member #2 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
Event date: 4 July 2020
I wanted to congratulate all involved with the Winton event on Saturday. It was my first visit (driving MX5) and I was super impressed with the club and the way it was all run. I'm in several Car Clubs and this was by far the best run, most professional and most importantly, friendliest event I have ever attended. I was made to feel very welcome and all the officials were brilliant, helpful and the thumbs up on returning to the pits was really nice. I have never enjoyed an event so much.
I own three BMWs a daily plus two 2002s but now I will be looking for an E30 for a track car as this is a club that I want to be a part of going forward!
I also have a shed of over 50 classic cars so if ever the club was looking for a local outing, I would be very happy to host an event. I have quite a few clubs through. Currently in Lilydale but moving to larger premises in the next few weeks to Boronia.
Thanks again and congratulations!
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
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