Dear members,
And just like that we are in Autumn, but in my opinion, this is the best time of the year in Victoria.
The first weekend in March was very busy for Jo and I, being the BMW Clubs Australia AGM and also Jo’s birthday. There are some interesting things coming out of the annual meeting of BMW Clubs. Some of you may not know that we are a part of a world-wide network of official BMW Clubs, over 800 of them in fact.
On the same weekend some of our members were at the first round of E30 Racing at Phillip Island, which all went well with lots of close and exciting racing and three different race winners over the weekend. It was great to see some new members join the grid too, with some more to follow later this year. Be sure to follow E30 Racing this year for some of the best and most exciting grass roots racing there is to see.
7 March was our first official club event for the month, the Shannons Sim Challenge. We had a changing of the guard this round, with Peter Williams winning, and James and Mark finishing second and third respectively.
11-12 March was our display at the Phillip Island Historics and as usual, this was a fantastic event. Our display was even better than previous years with a great show of old and new BMWs. Thanks to Shannons Insurance, some of our members were lucky to have the opportunity of doing parade laps at lunchtime on Saturday. It was also great to see some DCM members out on flag points helping the organisers run this great event too. Remember without volunteers these events don’t happen. Thank you to all who helped Lawrence and I over the weekend as both Jo and Shaaron were sidelined due to having new parts installed in various parts of their bodies. I’m happy to report both are out of hospital and doing remarkably well.
17-20 March was the BMW Clubs Australia Nationals hosted by BMW Club Gold Coast. We had a group of members travel up, but sadly due to Jo’s health and time factor we had to fly. Thankfully we were still able to take part in all of the events we wanted. It was great to catch up with so many of our friends from other states and also make new friends.
At the end of each Nationals there is a hand over of the Clubs Australia Banner to the next state to be holding this event and I am very happy and proud to say that the next BMW Clubs Australia Nationals will be held in Melbourne by BMWDCM in 2025. If you have never experienced a Nationals now you have no excuse, as it is being hosted in your home state by your own club. Stay tuned for updates on this, which we’ll have very soon.
We will need a lot of helpers for this event, so watch out for emails for help over the next two years. It might seem like a long way away, but we have already started organising and booking venues, it will be here before you know it, and being such a large event spread over four days there will be plenty to do between now and then.
On 19 March we had a group of club members attend the HMAS Cerberus open day and put on a display of cars at the request of the Base Command. The open day is an event we all love but sadly it conflicted with the Nationals so some of us missed out. Those who did attend had a ball and their cars looked great on display. We are hoping to make this an annual event so watch out for an invitation to the next one.
23 March was our last twilight drive until daylight saving resumes. Starting with a sausage sizzle at Westerfolds Park in Templestowe, we had a brilliant turn out on an evening which quite possibly could have been cancelled if we had listened to the weather forecast, but fortunately it turned into a warm balmy evening. 20 cars all took off on what was (I say this all the time) possibly one of Peter’s best shorter drives. The roads were stunning and so was the scenery. We managed to all keep together with no one getting lost which was brilliant. It is great to have both Peter and Jo on the UHF radios relaying instructions, as sometimes to pack does get a little spread out. We finished in Coldstream just near the distillery where a few went in for a night cap and others headed home. It was great to see families out on the drive and even a couple of corgis.
Don’t have a UHF radio? Click here to purchase one before the next run.
Watch out, as we will be doing a few midweek day time drives for those of us who are not working or able to take time off when needed. As the midweek drives are popular, we will just move them to during the day until the evenings get longer again.
On 25 March a few of us met out at Calder Park for a site visit for our upcoming joint event with VW Club, the German Auto Show, returning to it’s original date on 27 August. This is going to be a great event again and there is plenty of space for all marques to be displayed with heaps of room for spectators to move around.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the BMW R32 Motorcycle, so we will be having a display of BMW motorcycles at German Auto Show from the BMW Motorcycle Club Victoria to help them celebrate the milestone. So if you have a BMW motorcycle bring it along too!
Remember this event is about all things German - bikes, cars, trucks, buses, micro cars, anything German. Tell a friend and let’s raise even more money this year for our charity, Beyond Blue.
This event will be even bigger than last year, so we need your help put this together. If you are available to help with marshalling on the day, please email Jo at events@bmwdcm.com.au.
On 29 March we had 30 BMWs bump in to the Australian Grand Prix, alongside E30 Racing with another 9 racing cars on display. If you are at the Grand Prix, come along and see our beautiful display and say hi to all the members who have done a great job to get their cars here again this year.
There will be few of our members volunteering again at this year’s Grand Prix at different points of the track and in different areas, such as flagging, sector marshalling and pit lane. This will be my first at the Grand Prix as a Senior Scrutineer for the F2 and F3. I’m not enjoying the very early starts but it is very interesting being involved in the top level of our sport.
Our last event for the month is a Zoom hook up with Munich tonight, it’s always a lot of fun and full of great information. Just remember when you sign in, make sure the you have BMWDCM as part of you name so they know where we are all signing in from.
Now we look ahead to April and of course the first event is our Display at the Grand Prix.
On 4 April will be our members meeting at Melbourne BMW, which is has been open now since the full rebuild. Come and join us, this will be a great night.
7 April will be our Coffee and Wheels morning in Beaumaris to raise fund for the Royal Childrens Hospital Good Friday Appeal. Get behind this great event, we will have raffles on the day and also our friend and fellow member Christopher will be opening Flavours Patisserie for us all to grab a coffee and something really yummy to eat on the day.
Some of us will also be displaying our cars at Flinders Motoring Heritage event, on Easter Sunday. For anyone wanting to attend, this is a great event and you can still register via their website. The Club isn’t doing an official display this year, but you are still welcome to go along and support the event.
On 22 April we are heading off for a 4-day break on a Silo tour for ANZAC Day long weekend. We did a silo tour four years ago which was great, so if you haven’t registered yet, there is still time! There are more Silos to see this time, plus some other attractions, so come along and join us. For those who have already registered, have you placed your lunch orders yet? If not, please refer back to your confirmation email for the links.
6 May is our black-tie Fifth Birthday Celebration and Presentation Dinner. We’re had lots of interest, with only a few seats left. Please ensure you register as soon as possible to avoid missing out. We have some great auction items on the night as well as raffle prizes and of course all the presentation of awards and trophies from the year past.
Other events to mark in you calendar:
Challenge Bathurst this year is going to be amazing, and we have 55 spots to fill. Don’t miss out, tell a friend, anyone is welcome. You only need a Motorsport Australia Level 2 Speed licence – it’s definitely a bucket list item for all car enthusiasts. Don’t have a car but still want to be part of the fun? We need flag marshals to help out for the two days we are on track. All volunteer flaggies will receive either free camp group spots or accommodation in the university. Don’t leave it too late to register for these volunteer spots as accommodation and campgrounds fill up fast.
For those who want to attend and camp but don’t have anything to use, go to www.campify.com.au and they will get you a van to your campsite (you will still need to book a campsite through Challenge Bathurst) all set up ready for your stay, then pick up and take it away once you have left.
Some other fantastic news - we now have an association with the Accor Group of Hotels and Resorts, and for members booking accommodation you can get a discount by using the discount code found in the member benefits area of our website. This is great news for anyone that travels or wants to stay at an Accor or Mecure hotel when attending any of our events.
Our membership continues to grow steadily, we passed 750 members at the end of last year and it is great to see so many people joining us to enjoy our passion and everything our club has to offer. Welcome to all of our new members, we hope you enjoy what we put on for you. Of course, if you have an idea for an event and you think others might enjoy it too, let us know and we will see if we can do an event or help you set it up and run it.
As always, take care out there, if you need anything don’t hesitate to drop us a line or if you need help get in touch with our Welfare Team.
Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
PO 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
