What will the city of the future look like? How will we live there and move around? Questions like these and many others will be discussed at the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt. Starting on 18 October 2019, it will become a permanent meeting place and dialogue platform for those interested and the doers of tomorrow. Inside the entirely newly established Future Forum, visitors to the BMW Welt will gain an insight into ideas, concepts and technologies that will define urban life of the future. With the aid of augmented reality elements, the BMW Group will be presenting, among other things, its vision of the mobility of tomorrow. However, the idea of the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt thrives above all on dialogue and mutual shaping of the future. In addition to the permanent exhibition, exciting live formats are planned in which experts and visionaries from various different sectors and disciplines take visitors on a fascinating journey into the city of tomorrow.
Captivating design, progressive connectivity: a double success for the new BMW 3 Series.
The future is already being shaped today. Many scientist, developers and business enterprises already have an idea how future mobility and infrastructure concepts could look and are working on their implementation. The ideas and concepts being shown during the opening of the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt provide an outlook on the future, but not completely finalised because they change with time. They are constantly further developed and supplemented. At BMW Welt, visitors to the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt can now participate in diverse and fascinating visions for shaping everyday life, the workplace, communication and mobility in tomorrow’s cities.
With its futuristic architecture and more than three million visitors each year, BMW Welt offers right now the ideal platform for experiencing and shaping the future together. “With the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt, we as pioneers on the way to the future of mobility wish to actively participate in the dialogue about sustainable solutions for the automobile and beyond. To this end, the Forum will immediately serve as a permanent platform to draw a concrete picture of future developments together with experts and visionaries,” says Jens Thiemer, Senior Vice President Customer & Brand BMW. The FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt takes visitors on a virtual journey into the city of the future, thereby offering inspiration for thought. The challenges we are faced with, but above all the solutions for shaping the “city of the future” are examined more closely and discussed.
Experts invite visitors to join in inspiring talks and panel discussions.
Apart from the visitor experience, the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt offers all developers and visionaries a space for discussion as well as a platform for an inspiring exchange of ideas with each other and with the public. Exciting keynotes and panel discussions on future issues going beyond the subject of mobility offer new perspectives and promote the exchange of information whilst enriching the exhibition format. Moreover, the BMW Group invites all “future shapers” to create their own event formats within the framework of the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt in order to present their visions and concepts to a wide public. The Future Forum by BMW Welt is meant to inspire and actively promote a dialogue on all issues dealing with the future true to the motto: Explore the future. Get inspired. Join the conversation.
BMW PRESS
Thousands of exhibits in the Berlin Wall Museum on Friedrichstrasse, Berlin, commemorate the history of the once divided city, the tightly controlled border between East and West and the people who sought their way to freedom against all odds. On the upper floor near the window, which overlooks Checkpoint Charlie, there is the smallest escape car ever used: a BMW Isetta. Klaus-Günter Jacobi (79) regularly accompanies visitors through the museum as a tourist guide. What only few people are aware of: Jacobi does not only know all about many escape attempts, but that it was his idea to hide a person inside the tiny bubble car and to cross the border with the unnoticed passenger. This is how his best friend managed to escape from East to West Berlin. 30 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, BMW recounts the tale of Klaus-Günter Jacobi, his friend Manfred Koster and the mini-car, which helped nine people escape the GDR. This story is the plot of the movie “The Small Escape”, which will premiere on 2 October 2019 as a TV spot, on Youtube and on other social media channels of the BMW Group.
The elaborately produced blockbuster-style movie takes the audience back to the year 1964. Jacobi’s family had already left the East of the city in 1958, three years before the construction of the Berlin wall. When his old friend Manfred Koster asked him to help him escape from the GDR, he came up with a bold plan. His BMW Isetta was to serve as the escape car. The moto-coupé measuring only 2.30 meters in length and 1.40 meters in width would arouse little suspicion with the border soldiers, or so he hoped. And even today it stills seems virtually impossible to hide a person inside a BMW Isetta. The bubble car is already a very tight fit for two people on the seats directly behind the front door. The hiding place for his friend was built behind the seat bench directly next to the engine. Car mechanic Jacobi carried out the conversion in his former training workshop in Berlin-Reinickendorf. He cut an opening into the trim behind the seat bench, shifted the shelf upwards and removed the spare wheel, heating and air filter. He also exchanged the 13-litre fuel tank for a 2-litre canister to make space for the hidden passenger.
“The Small Escape” shows how the BMW Isetta was turned into an escape car and how the risky border crossing played out. The thrilling history lesson was produced by director Alex Feil, camera man Khaled Mohtaseb and set designer Erwin Prieb in Hollywood blockbuster style. The props, costumes, vehicles and street sets were created in Budapest to stage a faithful 1960s Berlin setting. A checkpoint complete with wall and border strip was recreated resulting in an oppressive atmosphere which continues to grow throughout the course of the film to then culminate in a happy end. “Since their invention, automobiles have brought freedom and self-determination to humankind. Cars bring people together. This is something one should always also keep in mind in the current debate. The movie emphasises this. The moving escape story with the BMW Isetta can also be seen as a symbol of the invaluable value cars and individual mobility can have. It’s all about freedom, independence and dreams. Our movie recognises the drive and courage of the people who made this successful escape possible”, says Jens Thiemer, Head of BMW Brand Management.
On 23 May 1964, shortly before the border crossing closed on midnight, the BMW Isetta converted by Klaus-Günter Jacobi, rolled underneath the opened barrier. Shortly after crossing, he freed his friend Manfred from his hiding place behind the seat bench and took him in his arms delirious with joy. This was the only time Jacobi’s BMW Isetta was used as an escape car, but his achievement was to inspire imitators. Eight further GDR citizens managed to escape to the West over the following years in a similarly converted BMW Isetta. Today this car is on display in the Berlin Wall Museum. The movie “The Small Escape” will also be a permanent exhibit of the permanent exhibition on spectacular escape attempts.
The movie „The Small Escape“ can be watched on the BMW Youtube and other channels. The detailed story of Klaus-Günter Jacob, his BMW Isetta and the spectacular escape of his friend across the internal German border is told on www.bmw.com.
On Monday 23 September, I looked at my calendar and realised we had a complete weekend off coming up. WOOHOO! This was short lived when I turned on my computer to see that VFT (Victorian Flag Marshalling Team) needed helpers for the VMCI State Round at Philip Island, due to the Grand Final and it being a long weekend, they were short on flag marshals. A quick chat to Graeme and we decided that we will put our hands up and help.
Thursday night we went to the VMCI (Victorian Mini Club Inc) members meeting and they also mentioned that they were desperately short of officials for the weekend. Out came my phone and I sent approximately 50 messages out to our member and officials asking for help, at very short notice.
Before the meeting had finished, I managed to get 6 accept and by Friday morning I had close to 20 of our wonderful members giving up their long weekend to help. I am very proud of them all for their hard work and dedication on the day and this made life so much easier for the senior officials, to run this brilliant race meeting.
To become a CAMS official, all you need to do is go onto the CAMS web page and complete the General Officials application, which will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete, then go to the Working with Children’s Check web page and fill that in and then you are ready to start helping out at any race meeting. These applications do not cost you anything but time, as we are a Not-for-Profit organisation, it all comes free.
There are a lot of people out there that love motorsport and it is as simple as the above to get up close and personal to all the action. I currently hold a Bronze CAMS official license in pretty much all areas, except scrutineering and am waiting to be assessed for my Silver Upgrade, which will possibly take close to 12 months to complete.
I started volunteering because of our involvement in motorsport and wanted to give back to the officials who stand out in all conditions, so that my extended family can do the thing they love, RACE. I get so much enjoyment out of knowing that I am a small cog in the large wheel that make these events happen.
Even if you are a competitor, it is also important for you guys to step on the other side to just see what it is we do, learn the fundamentals of officiating and you never know you might just have as much fun as we do out there. Without officials, you guys cannot compete. There are days when you are not racing, check what race meetings are on and see if you can help out too.
One of the big bonuses of being a CAMS official is you can also volunteer at the Supercars and the F1 and you can’t get any closer than we are to all the action.
If you love motorsport or have a loved one who competes in motorsport, think about becoming an CAMS official and helping your club, other clubs and all the members who enjoy getting out on the track continue to do so.
If I can help anyone to become a CAMS General official, please do not hesitate to give me a call on 0412 661 900 and I will be only too happy to assist.
Jo Mawson | Member #2 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
MONTH IN REVIEW
Just like that, Winter is gone and we're well on our way into Spring. We wouldn't mind some of that warmer weather to appear now!
We started our September with a member's meeting with a twist at Shannons Insurance. It was our President's birthday, so as a surprise we organised for a celebration with Steve and Jim Richards. Graeme had absolutely no idea of what had been planned for him. A big thank you to Steve, Jim and all the members who came to celebrate!
Next up was round 6 of the 2019 Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Sandown. Member Rod Martin had a fantastic time learning the ability of his E30 in both the wet and the dry.
We then had our Coffee & Cars morning at Albert Park. Luckily, the bad weather that was hanging around stayed away long enough for our members to have an enjoyable morning at the Carousel Cafe.
Our month then finished with the a drive and Go-Karting at Stony Creek. We started with a beautiful morning at Caldermeade BP where Peter Williams led us to Stony Creek Go-Karts for a fun afternoon.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE: 413 MEMBERS
Welcome to all our new members, we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!
Don't forget to catch up with this month's update from our President, Graeme Bell here.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
In October our monthly meeting will be an Oktoberfest themed event at the Tivoli German Club on Tuesday, 8 October followed by our first Annual General Meeting (AGM).
At the AGM, as is the usual custom, all committee positions will be declared vacant and committee members elected or re-elected for the next 12 months.
Members will have received by now call for nominations for committee positions and the notice of AGM.
THE MONTH AHEAD
Here's our plans for October:
EVENTS AHEAD
Keep an eye on our calendar for events coming up, we’re always adding something new.
12 November November Members Meeting at Zagame Body ShopJoin us for an exclusive tour of the brand new Bespoke Auto Body Shop.
17 November Castlemaine - Maldon Steam Train DriveEnjoy a drive along the back roads to the Victorian Goldfields, a trip in First Class on a heritage steam train and some time in the first 'notable town' in Victoria - Maldon.
23-24 November Geelong RevivalTwo days of BMW displays, this year in prime position close to the pits and all the action! Saturday we are celebrating the 8 with an 8 Fest Display and Sunday we are celebrating the E30. Bring any car, any day, or both!
29 November - 2 December Multi Club Weekend, BMWDCM, BMWDCNSW & BMWCCCJoin us for another fabulous weekend with our NSW and Canberra neighbours. The weekend will be based in beautiful Merimbula with plenty of scenic, sweeping drives. Click the event link for the full itinerary.
NEWS | BLOG
Note regarding Shannons Insurance
For those of us who are insured with Shannons Insurance, they have released some important information regarding insurance coverage when you're on track. Please ensure you familiarise yourself with this document if you plan on taking your car on track and are insured by Shannons.
idrive magazine
Have an interesting story about you or how you came to own your BMW? How about a story about a restoration or a build of your car? It could be anything!
Email us because we'd love to read it and share it with our members.
MEMBER SERVICES
Members are welcome to submit their business to be shared on the Member Services page on our website. We are all about supporting those who support us, so if you would like your business listed, email us with your details and we'll add you to the page!
President | Graeme Bell 0407 186 296 Vice President | Jo Mawson 0412 661 900 Secretary | Lawrence Glynn 0414 563 290 Treasurer | Shaaron Glynn
Proudly supported by:
Dear Members,
September brought us some fantastic events and also 15 new members. Welcome to you all and thank you for joining the Ultimate Driving Club.
We started the month with what I thought would be our regular members meeting at Shannons, just a casual night to catch up with our friends and go over the upcoming events, but on arriving I found out this was far from a normal meeting! With over 70 members and guest speakers Jim and Steve Richards waiting inside to surprise me on my birthday. What a shock, I absolutely had no idea! Jo and everyone there did an amazing job of keeping this big secret until the end. I was welcomed with a chorus of Happy Birthdays and then pizza and cake which was very overwhelming.
After all the frivolity, we all preceded to the conference room and were delighted with Jim and Steve Richards just chatting about their respective careers in motorsport. I can say I was dumbfounded and very humbled by all the effort that had gone into this night and it was not just me who enjoyed it, as all who attended had a great night. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart, what a way to spend my birthday, with so many of our wonderful friends!
We followed with another great turn out at Round 6 of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Sandown, and what a brilliant day that was with DCM Members filling a 1/3 of the field! We started with a dry track in the morning then the rain coming in later in the afternoon, which really made driving conditions challenging. But again, all walked away with massive smile on their faces and full tummies thanks to Jo and Phil Kolar, who always look after our guys with plenty of food, tea, coffee and snacks all day.
What can I say about our Coffee & Cars morning? The weather was looking a little temperamental, with clouds rolling by, but just after 8.30am cars of all marques just kept coming in and filling up the car park. I was overwhelmed at the support for this event. I would have to say we had over 100 cars on the day and the café staff were run off their feet, with members enjoying coffee and brunch inside, out of the cooler wind. It was awesome to see so many different cars and groups coming from all over to drop in, have a chat and look at the cars. Just what a Cars & Coffee meet should be!
Our last event for September was our social drive and go karting event, out at Stony Creek Go Karts and this was again brilliant. Those who were joining us on the drive met at Caldermeade BP and McDonalds for an early breakfast and then once we were all there, we set off on one of the most picturesque drives we have done for a while. The rolling hills through the Gurdies and Gippsland were just stunning, and the driving roads were amazing too, another great drive planned by our Drive Co-ordinator, Peter Williams, thank you Peter, you have excelled yet again.
Once we arrived at the go karting track, those that were driving signed in ready to have some amazing fun out on the track. We were split into two groups and went out in two different sessions. This was one of the most fun things we have all done, as the slightly heavier members struggled in these karts but once we got them going boy we had a ball.
Like a lot of people, both Jo and I are members of several clubs, not just BMWDCM and during the week, Jo got an email from VFT (Victorian Flag Marshalling Team) asking for help at the VMCI State Race Meeting at Phillip Island. We were intending to have a weekend off, but Jo said she would like to help out, so she replied OK, she would flag for them. Then on Thursday night we attended the VMCI (Vic Mini Club) meeting and Michael Holloway (President of VMCI) asked for more members to volunteer as officials over the weekend, due to the Grand Final and it falling over a long weekend and school holidays, they were also short of volunteers for the Saturday and Sunday to actually run the race meeting.
Jo quickly got on her phone during the meeting and sent out texts and emails asking all our officials and volunteers if they could help out over the weekend. Before the night was over, she had 6 respond with a yes and then managed to get close to 20 of our awesome DCM members commit to help over the Saturday and Sunday. Michael was very impressed and extremely happy.
We had members out on flag points, in pit lane and the paddock marshalling, helping as grid marshals and I got to control the event as the official starter. It was a very different view of the race meeting from up in the starter’s box for each race start, counting the laps and then waving the checkered flag for the end of every race.
What a great weekend! Both Jo and I were very proud of the great work all our members did to help out over the weekend. Thank you all who came and helped, you know who you are.
For anyone else who wants to get up close to motorsport, volunteering at these events can be very rewarding and you get to see all the action from up close. To become a CAMS General Official click here to find out more. You'll also need a Working With Children’s Check, which you can get here. Once you've done that, you will be ready to assist at any of our events and even some of the more prestigious events like the Super Cars and even Formula 1 if you want to.
We have a lot of events coming up to look out for:
There are lots more events coming up, make sure you check in on the events page on the website to see all the great events coming up for the end of 2019 and the start of 2020.
Any questions or want to get involved in motorsport drop me a line or drop in for a chat, our door is always open.
Graeme Bell | President BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
P.O. Box 81, TYABB, VICTORIA. 3913 Incorporated in Victoria #A0102695GBMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc is a member of:BMW Clubs Australia and the BMW Clubs International CouncilCAMS Affiliated Motorsport Club
The new BMW 3 Series range has once again raised the bar for sports performance in the premium mid-size segment with its superior powertrain and chassis technology. The latest-generation BMW 3 Series Sedan and BMW 3 Series Touring models are also built to excite with their new and extremely precise – yet still recognisably BMW – styling and their cutting-edge innovations in the areas of control/operation, driver assistance systems and connectivity. Indeed, their attractive design and advanced connectivity technology helped the sporty Sedan and dynamic, elegant Touring to secure a brace of wins in readers’ surveys recently conducted by the motoring magazines auto, motor und sport and Moove. The BMW 3 Series was judged to be the best new car design of the year, earning it the Autonis 2019 award. It also led the way in the Car Connectivity Award’s blue-riband discipline, claiming the title of best-connected car in the Connected Cars category.
BMW picked up three more accolades in this year’s edition of the Car Connectivity Award. In a poll of the magazines’ readers, the BMW Live Cockpit Professional, the Driving Assistant Professional package and the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System each took top spot in their respective categories. The winning systems already enhance driving pleasure, safety and comfort in several of the brand’s model ranges. The prizes were presented yesterday at an awards ceremony in Stuttgart.
The design of the new BMW 3 Series is a modern take on the sporting elegance for which BMW is renowned, and winning the Autonis 2019 delivers striking evidence of how much it appeals to popular taste; with 32.3 per cent of the votes, the new BMW 3 Series was the clear winner in its class. This was the 14th time a readers’ vote had decided the Autonis winners. More than 13,700 readers of auto, motor und sport took part in the latest poll and were asked to choose their favourites from 100 new models spanning ten vehicle classes.
The Car Connectivity Award is also put to a public vote, with over 12,000 readers of auto, motor und sport and Moove participating in its sixth edition. Standout systems and technologies from BMW in the areas of connectivity, navigation, driver assistance and audio attracted the most votes in four of the eleven categories. The new BMW 3 Series was victorious in the Connected Cars category, taking 35.7 per cent of the votes. The new BMW 3 Series Sedan was the brand’s first new model to be offered with the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant as an option. And the new BMW 3 Series range also offers an exceptional array of online-based functions for increasing comfort and convenience, safety and driving pleasure – from Real Time Traffic Information, On-Street Parking Information, hazard warning, BMW Online services, Remote Services and the BMW Digital Key to the seamless interaction between the car and the driver’s digital devices via BMW Connected.
The BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant is part of the BMW Live Cockpit Professional system, which was judged to be the best new product in the “Navigation systems” category with 33.5 per cent of the votes. As well as connected navigation and the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, this equipment feature also includes the new BMW Operating System 7.0 – which comprises a fully digital screen grouping made up of the instrument cluster and Control Display, plus customisable graphics. It also enables multimodal operation via the touchscreen display, iDrive Controller, steering wheel buttons or voice and gesture control.
In the “Safety assistance systems” category, the Driving Assistant Professional package was crowned the readers’ favourite with 29.6 per cent of the votes. Its range of functions includes Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go function, the Steering and lane control assistant, the Lane Keeping Assistant with active side collision protection, the Evasion Assistant, Cross Traffic Alert, road priority warning, wrong-way warning and the reversing assistant. The latest version of the Driving Assistant Professional now also features real-time 3D visualisation of the surrounding area using graphics in the instrument cluster, plus – depending on the model – the Lane Change Assistant. It therefore represents the state of the art in driving assistance systems and helps the BMW Group to pave the way for automated driving.
In the “Sound systems” category, the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System – available for the BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW 8 Series, BMW X5, BMW X6 and BMW X7 – accounted for every second vote cast. Boasting a fully active ten-channel amplifier, dynamic equalizing, as many as 20 partly illuminated speakers and up to 1,508 watts of music power (depending on the model specified), the system delivers a beautifully precise and multifaceted acoustic experience whose pristine quality can be enjoyed from all seats in equal measure.
Our day started bright and early, on a beautiful Sunday morning. Kristen was beaming with excitement to start the day (this was her second club drive and she knew what to expect).
We set off to meet the rest of the crew at Caldermede BP. Much to our delight, the first car that caught our eyes was Lawrence's mint "estoril blue" E46 M3.
Immediately, we were made welcome by Graeme and Jo.
After a coffee and a nice catch up with a mix of new and familiar faces, we each got into our cars for the drive, and what a drive it was! To have a community around you that is equally passionate about cars is such an thrilling feeling. The sound of different engines erupts around us as we carve our way through the 'twisties' to our destination.
A little after an hour later, we had arrived at Stony Creek Go-Karts. As we clambered out of our cars, excitement started to build. Before us was an 800m track, with a total of 15 karts.
We split the group in half, and raced for most of the day. On each team's break, we had the luxury of a snack and lunch bar. It was a great opportunity for the club to get together and exchange conversation with each other. Both Kris and I have always felt so welcomed, and this drive was no exception. Jo has never forgot any of our names, and continues to be a wonderful host.
This was a day to remember, and we couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces as we drove home.
Another great club experience, and it won't be the last.
Al Gonzales | Member #303 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and the newly developed endurance version of the BMW S 1000 RR enjoyed a successful debut in the FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC). At the Bol d’Or at Le Castellet (FRA), rider trio Kenny Foray (FRA), Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR) and Julian Puffe (GER) battled for the podium down to the wire. After 311 laps, they crossed the finish line in fourth place, just four seconds behind the top three. Team ERC Endurance, with riders Mathieu Gines, Julien Da Costa and Louis Rossi (all FRA), secured a BMW podium. The BMW customer team claimed third place overall with the previous version of the RR which is already known in the FIM EWC.
The 83rd edition of the Bol d’Or kicked off the 2019/20 FIM EWC season, which the newly formed BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team is contesting as a works team for the first time with the new RR. The development of the endurance version of the motorcycle for the FIM EWC started just a few months ago. This year’s Bol d’Or had to be stopped between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. due to extremely bad weather with rain and storms, meaning that the actual race duration was just around twelve hours instead of 24.
The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team caused a stir with the new RR early on. On Thursday, Mikhalchik set an interim new lap record for the FIM EWC at Le Castellet on Thursday, with a time of 1:53.669 minutes. The qualifying sessions, in which reserve rider Bastien Mackels (BEL) was also in action, ended on Friday with a terrific fourth place on the grid for the #37 RR.
When the race was interrupted on Saturday evening the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team was in seventh place. The #37 RR then restarted the race on Sunday morning from that position. In drying conditions, Foray, Mikhalchik and Puffe soon moved up into the top three, and the #37 was even in second place for a long time. However, a technical problem arose in the final phase which prevented closing rider Mikhalchik from defending the almost-certain podium. Just a few minutes before the chequered flag, Gines on the #6 RR, who also set a new race lap record at the Bol d’Or, overtook Mikhalchik to move into third place. The Ukrainian ended up crossing the finish line in fourth place, just four seconds behind Gines.
The Tecmas BMW GMC team also finished the Bol d’Or in the top ten. Camille Hedelin, Alexis Masbou and David Perret (all FRA) finished in ninth place with the #9 RR. 15th place overall and fifth place in the Superstock class went to the GERT56 by GS YUASA team with Stefan Kerschbaumer (AUT), Lucy Glöckner (GER) and Pepijn Bijsterbosch (NED).
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “It was a turbulent opening race with a very good result. There has never been a Bol d‘Or like it. On one hand, the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team faced an additional challenge since we did not to find a good rain set-up for the chassis and electronics in the run-up. Ilya also had his first ever experience of Dunlop rain tyres in the race. In this respect, the interruption suited us. On the other hand, as a totally new project it might have benefitted us that the team and bike weren’t subjected to the usual pressures of a full 24-hour distance. But overall, it has to be said that with our speed, the pit stops, the team performance and also in terms of fuel consumption, we were on track. That shows that we have developed a super basis in the short time available. Yes, we were gifted a few places by the problems the top teams experienced, but that’s all part of 24-hour races. Toward the end of the race, we struggled with a minor technical problem which cost us the podium by four seconds. It would have been amazing, but to come away with a fourth place is still remarkable. Congratulations to our customer team ERC, who overtook us eight minutes before the end of the race, thereby securing the spot on the podium.”
Werner Daemen, Team Manager BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team: “The conditions really were difficult. It was the first time that we competed here, and I honestly never dared believe that we would be up there at the front. It was clear that we only had problems with the rain. Second place would have been possible, but we had a minor technical problem in the final hour of the race, which is why, unfortunately, we only finished in fourth place, with a deficit of four seconds on the podium. I’m happy about what we achieved, but I’m also slightly disappointed that more wasn’t possible. But, we are a new team and this race makes us optimistic looking to the future.”
Kenny Foray: “It’s a new team, a new bike, and given these circumstances our result is really good. We only just missed out on the podium because we had a technical problem in the closing stage. That’s why I’m a little bit disappointed. Everyone in the team did a fantastic job and they deserved the podium. But that’s all part of endurance racing and we will continue to grow.”
Julian Puffe: “The team worked night and day over the past few weeks to be competitive here, and with fourth place we achieved a great result. My two team-mates did an amazing job, and it’s a fantastic result for our debut in the FIM EWC. Obviously, we would have liked to finish on the podium, especially when it was so close. But on the whole, we can be very pleased.”
Ilya Mikhalchik: “I’m really happy that we finished the race. I didn’t expect that we would even have been fighting for the podium! It’s a brand-new bike, so we were aware that we might experience a technical problem over such a long race distance. We saw here how strong the bike is and how well the team works. It was really unfortunate that there was a problem in the end. That’s why my pace slowed down. But overall I am happy that we were able to get so close to the podium.”
Bastien Mackels: “It was a real pleasure to join the team because the atmosphere is really unbelievable. It is one of the best teams I’ve ridden with so far. The BMW S 1000 RR is easy to ride and competitive. It’s a great project and I am convinced that the time will come and the team will fight for the win.”
Mathieu Gines (Team ERC Endurance): “I’m over the moon. The bike was really good and the team did a perfect job. My team-mates were brilliant, and I also gave it my all. It was so much fun. Thanks to Team ERC Endurance and to BMW – I hope that I can compete in many more races with them.”
Let’s be honest, the driver and co-driver were super keyed up and extremely excited when they got into their electric MINI Cooper SE (combined fuel consumption: 0.0 l/100 km; combined electricity consumption: 16.8 – 14.8 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km) in Căpățânenii Ungureni, an idyllic little village in Romania. The three-door automobile emits a characteristically synthetic murmur to signal the readiness of its systems and the invisible T-shaped rechargeable battery located in the floor of the car permits a range of “250 kilometres” according to the charge level indicator. Really? Here, on the steepest ascent to a pass in Romania? Eccentric English automobile maniac Jeremy Clarkson from England calls the Transfăgărăşan “the best road in the world” in the cult automobile series “Top Gear” – and overcomes the difference in altitude of more than 1400 metres with a maximum gradient of 8.6 percent in a powerful super sports car. But now the electric cult small car is following in the tracks of the gang from Top Gear – does it have what it takes?
Absolutely! The Transfăgărăşan mountain road in Romania that winds through the Transylvanian Alps for 90 kilometres is just the job for the battery-powered MINI Cooper SE – just presented to a public audience at the IAA Frankfurt 2019. The fact is that electric cars and high-altitude mountains are a perfect fit, like mountains and valleys. The perfect road-holding of the MINI Cooper SE combines with an almost ideal weight distribution of 54:46, and its low centre of gravity thanks to the underfloor rechargeable batteries transforms the battle of the curves on innumerable spectacular hairpin bends into a veritable pleasure garden.
Furthermore, the electric motor provides ultimate traction by applying its 135 kW/184 hp directly to the road through the front wheels thanks to the automatic transmission and model-specific torque of 270 Nm. This is already obvious to the crew immediately after the first few curves. And it becomes even more evident as time goes on. The Transfăgărăşan road unfolds second by second, becoming wilder and ever more dramatic. The car hurtles over viaducts and through tunnels, hurries past waterfalls and jagged scree-covered slopes.
After the first 30 kilometres of road with scenic panoramas and thrilling dynamic driving, it’s time for a break. Not for the MINI – but for the crew! They take a detour from the smooth road surface into a quaint mountain village. This is where the tracks become typically Eastern European and virtually impassable – undoubtedly a problem for some cars designed in Western Europe but all cool for the MINI Cooper SE. In spite of the battery units, the car is only 145 kilograms heavier than a MINI Cooper S, thanks to the significantly lower weight of an electric motor by comparison with a petrol power plant.
Are the cows along the side of the road likely to be impressed? This is an area where horse-drawn carts are still common and superannuated tractors make fast cornering into a slalom artform. Such a performance is indeed a rarity in this region – and the four-legged spectators stare after the MINI with an inquiring curiosity.
In one hairpin bend, the MINI Cooper SE passes a flock of sheep within stroking distance. The engine purrs so quietly that you can hear the baas of the woolly sheep. Any worries that one of them will suddenly bump into the SE’s yellow front trim? No chance, the outstanding manoeuvrability and the braking assistant are absolutely trustworthy. If one of the animals happens to become bold as brass, we are at the ready – human and machine in rare harmony.
There are plenty of parking spaces in the car park by the barrage wall of the Vidraru Dam, and the scenery presents an invitation to chill out. The crew gets a picnic basket out of the boot – just as spacious as its petrol relatives with capacity of between 235 and 731 litres (when the back seats are folded down) – and produces some memorable photos capturing the mountain panorama with mist rising up – in fact of course made up of clouds. Not for nothing is the Transfăgărăşan called the “road in the clouds”.
Shortly before the top of the pass at an altitude of 2042 metres, the outside thermometer of the MINI Cooper SE shows a temperature of just a few degrees above zero – a good reason for care or to drive slowly? Not likely, there’s no risk at all, even if you floor the accelerator. The actuator-operated wheel-slip limiter reliably prevents the front of the car from swerving if the drive wheels start spinning.
Inside the poorly lit Bâlea Tunnel, it’s gloomier than Dracula’s coffin but the daylight LED headlamps of the MINI Cooper SE banish any ghosts and dark thoughts. After crossing over the pass, spectacular downhill slopes mean that recuperation is so robust that the battery is almost fully charged by the time they reach the valley. This is because most of the electricity used for the ascents can be recuperated on the descent. The driver is able to decide how much is recuperated because the driver can toggle a button in overrun mode with two settings to define the strength of recuperation and hence the effect of the brakes during recuperation – an innovative feature that is typical and exclusively MINI.
When the MINI Cooper SE reaches the romantic city of Sibiu, formerly Hermannstadt, it’s time to turn back after more than 90 kilometres of challenging journey up hill and down dale. The battery isn’t even half empty and after it has been fully charged, the crew sets out on the return trip to enjoy lots of driving fun. One thing has become obvious to the team in the car. A trip over this distance was easy peasy for the MINI Cooper SE. Other return trips easily within its range would include Hamburg-Travemünde (81 km), Munich-Chiemsee (87 km) and Frankfurt-Heidelberg (90 km). It could also accommodate popular tours like Hamburg-Warnemünde (192 km), Cologne-Frankfurt (190 km), Stuttgart-Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance (206 km), Munich-Passau (192 km) or Berlin-Dresden (192 km) in one go.
Another very successful outing with the BMW Drivers Club Melbourne “Coffee & Cars” held at Albert Park Sunday the 15th of September.
Even though the weather was threatening there was a fantastic turn up of vehicles and of course, lots of interesting people to talk to and passionate discussions about their vehicles.
This was another first for Warren and I, as we have only been in the club 12 months and are amazed at how well these outings are organised and patronised, which says a lot for the committee who run them. It was also great to catch up with other members who we have met on other outings and also to meet members who are new to the club like us.
I also have to say the coffee and breakfasts at the Carousel Café were amazing and a great way to sit and chat with other members.
We are now looking forward to upcoming events such as the Geelong Revival in November. It should be another fabulous long weekend.
Margaret Fairweather | Member #348 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
Click an image below to enlarge.
© 2024 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc. All Rights Reserved.
