President’s Column, May 2006

by Bob Morin

Our April 7^th Driver’s School was the only event since my last column.  As the first Driver’s School of the year, things are always a little tense with new regulations, new helmet standards, even a new configuration at Lime Rock for False Grid and the exit from the track into pit lane with which to contend.  On top of that we were a little nervous about having enough volunteers as several key regulars were unable to attend this event. 

As it turned out the volunteers were great, especially standing out in the rain when the weather went downhill about halfway through the event.  Steve Wasley did his usual terrific job getting all the students into their proper run groups and seeing to it that they all had instructors assigned as well.  Frank Giacalone had the event humming along right on time and Wally Thomas did a superb job in his first event as Chief Instructor.  I don’t want to get into naming everyone that helped with student and instructor registration, track-side tech, in the tower and up and down pit lane at False Grid, Pit Middle and Pit Out because I’ll be sure to forget someone, but know that you were all greatly appreciated. 

If ever there was an example of “it’s great to be young” though, I do have to mention Bill and Lisa Mellott.  Lisa is the young lady who usually greets you at the gate in the morning to sign the CVC waiver and as such, she and Bill are among the very first to arrive.  At this school, Lisa worked False Grid the entire day and Bill worked when not driving in his run group.  At the end of the day, they loaded their M coupe and headed for Summit Point (about 8 hours in the rain) where they planned to attend a Saturday and Sunday Driver’s School.  They also planned to be back at work on Monday.  I’m tired just trying to think about that to type it!

In upcoming events, I hope you will think about joining the CVC team in the MS Bike Tour on June 4^th.  You don’t need to be Lance Armstrong to participate.  There are various length rides from which to choose and it should be a fun way to help out a very worthwhile charity.  Check out either the article in the DZ or the links on our Chapter website for more information.

It’s getting to be time to fill out that application for Oktoberfest in Grand Rapids (July 23 – 28).  It sounds like a great event and the hotel has gotten rave reviews as well, so why not join our group.

Catching up on F1 news we left off with Malaysia where BMW Sauber claimed their first points as a team when Jacques Villeneuve placed 7^th.  Unfortunately, Nick Heidfeld had a pretty spectacular engine failure putting him in 15th place.  Next up was Australia and a very encouraging race it was for the young BMW Sauber team.  Heidfeld managed to come in 4^th with Villeneuve 6^th as both drivers scored points.  While Renault and McLaren still seem to be the ones to beat this year, it seems like there is more interest as Ferrari seems better than last year, Honda has shown signs of being competitive, Toyota placed 3^rd in Australia and Williams-Cosworth and even RBR-Ferrari have scored points already this year.  Sure, there are still teams that will only score points if every other team drops out ala last year at Indy, but I still get the feeling that there are many more teams vying for at least a podium finish than in the last several years.

In News From National, membership has begun to show a small, but steady increase.  Is the membership contest working?  I hope so.  Anyway, we now stand at 75,469, up .14% over last year.  The BMW CCA Raffle will continue this year, but with a twist.  Instead of an M3, M5 or some other single model as the prize, the winner will have overcome 1 in 2600 odds and be granted their choice of a 325Ci convertible, a 330xi sedan or a Z4 3.0si roadster.  There will be another proposed bylaw change that comes in the mailer for the raffle, so even if you are not interested in the raffle, don’t just throw the flyer away; take the time to vote for the bylaw change.  The next Chapter Congress has already been announced, albeit a year from now, the weekend of April 27^th to 29^th, 2007, site to be determined. 

Hope to see you at the next event.