Dear members,
After a great start to the year with a busy January, we went straight into February with a member meeting and twilight drive leaving from Berwick BMW. We had a fantastic turnout with many members attending to meet with the staff at Berwick BMW before we headed out to the car park for a driver briefing and went off on another of Peter Williams' drives. We had a perfect summer night and quite a few new members join us, it was also great to see some families coming out for the fun too.
We were supposed to join the Maling Road display on 6 February but this was postponed again due to Covid. This is planned to be rescheduled to some time in May. As soon as we get confirmation we'll let you know the details. It will be a limited event as there are only so many places allocated to each club.
On 12 February we had a huge field of competitors join us for Round 2 of our 2022 Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Sandown with the weather turning on a stunning day and everyone having a ball.
We also had a Pre-Torquay Motor Show drive down the Great Ocean Road on 12 February with a nice selection of cars. The group finished their night at the Torquay Hotel for dinner, ready for the Motor Show on the Sunday.
The Torquay Motor Show never disappoints with so many different cars on show. It was great to see so many new people interested in our display, and we signed up quite a few new members on the day - so welcome to all who joined. Welcome to all the other new members who have joined us recently, we are currently at 686 members and still growing strongly each month.
On 19 February some of our members attended the Shannons Auto Caffeine morning with a beautiful collection of cars ready for their auctions. It's always a joy to catch up with all the Shannons staff that we have not seen for what feels like years, have a chat and a coffee and a look over some of the cars I may or may not have bid on… although I didn’t win it anyway.
On 20 February 100 members and friends joined us for a private tour of Lindsay Fox’s museum and wow what an incredible display of cars. We were there for just on two hours, I'm sure I speak for everyone who attended when I say we could have stayed there longer. There is so much history in the building alone, let alone all the amazing cars which were on display.
We finished February with our monthly virtual hook up the BCCM which again did not disappoint. We really enjoy catching up with our Munich friends, we highly recommend attending one of these if you get a chance.
Quite a few of our members were then competing at Sandown on 25-27 February for Round 1 of the E30 Racing Championship. We also had one of our members doing their OLT (Observed Licence Test) and passing, well done Shannon Cooper. It's great to see four new members joining the E30 field for 2022. Our very own Jess Bell qualified third, her best starting spot to date, well done Jess. Alex Jory won the round to start off the year where he left off last year, well done Alex. I even slipped into a seat for the weekend when Shannon took ill and couldn’t race on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, although I now see Shannon’s car needs a bit of engine work to give it some extra go!
On the Sunday it was also Jess’s 30th birthday and it was fantastic to have a bit of a party at the track with all of the E30 and DCM members joining us to help celebrate. Jess does a fantastic job in the background for the club, pretty much everything you see, from the website and the newsletter to idrive magazine, it's all Jess’s hard work behind the scenes to make us look as good as possible and function so well. Thank you Jess and happy birthday for Sunday!
Speaking of birthdays, 4 March is our very own Vice President, Jo’s, 60th birthday and seeing as we will be in Geelong for the Revival, make sure you drop in and say Happy Birthday to Jo over the weekend! Jo does so much for the Club and we are so lucky to have her driving the events and organising just about everything we do. She is a dynamo and deserves our thanks for her tireless efforts to help the club be as good as it is.
We will be taking our BMW club of the Year Award to all events for everyone to see too, another reason to come along and have a selfie with the trophy, as it is an award for all the members.
On 4 - 6 March our club will have a huge display down at Geelong foreshore for Geelong Revival, so if you have not registered yet, please do. There are a few ///M cars we are still looking for so contact Lawrence on secretary@bmwdcm.com.au and even if we have one like yours, we will be happy to have another.
On 8 March we will be holding a Zoom member meeting to run through all our events for 2022 and boy do we have a load.
As you will all know by now, we have the BMW Clubs Australia Nationals being hosted in Canberra this year. Registrations have closed but we're really looking forward to catching up with our interstate friends over the long weekend.
While the Nationals is happening up in Canberra the Phillip Island Historics will be on both Saturday and Sunday,. It's a great opportunity to display your car and watch the Historics race over the weekend.
On 25-27 March our racing members are at Winton for Round 2 of the E30 Championship. If you’d like to come to some fantastic State level racing you are more than welcome to join us.
Looking ahead to April on 2 April we have our first come and try day at Broadford. This is focused on women being our International Women’s Day event, but men and boys are more than welcome to join us on the track or as officials on the day.
Straight after our International Women’s Day Come and Try is the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne. We have been looking forward to the F1 cars coming back for two years now and we will have another amazing display of cars on show. So if you are at the Grand Prix, come and say hello!
On 30 April we are holding our presentation night and fourth birthday dinner, so be sure to register for this. While the theme is to come dressed as someone famous from history or the silver screen, if you are not comfortable then just come dress in smart casual wear.
Lastly, we have our new limited-edition shirts and caps to celebrate our award for winning International Club of the Year in 2021. They are available as a special edition and so are limited, so if you want one, get in quick! They look great and if you are in Geelong for the Revival, we will have them available there.
Thanks for reading, as always, keep an eye on your emails and our event calendar, it is packed with all sorts of events to suit every taste.
Drive safe out there and I look forward to seeing you at an event somewhere soon.
Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
P.O. 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
