President’s Column, June 2006

The first event since my last column should have been an Autocross on April 23^rd, but that was during our “April Showers” period and the lot was flooded.  So, although autocrosses are typically held rain or shine, C.A.R.T. made a decision to cancel the event.  Thanks to Dave Rich for trying to get this event going again and it’s a shame we couldn’t get a break from Mother Nature.

Next up was the Wine & Cheese on April 29^th at the Hurczyn’s in Bristol, CT.  We had a great mix of veteran attendees and newcomers and everyone seemed to enjoy the plentiful food, wine and conversation.  Thanks to Jim and Maria for opening their home to us once again this year.

Our May 5^th Driver’s School greeted us with much more favorable weather than the April school.  Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with Trackside Tech, in the tower, and up and down Pit Lane from False Grid to Pit Middle to Pit Out and to Steve, Wally and Frank for organizing the day.  And, of course, thank you to all of our instructors as well for a great day.  Hopefully, we’ll see you all again in September.

Speaking of Driver’s Schools, there is a definite trend afoot.  Whether it is the cost of registration, which is constantly going up due to consistent increases in track rental and other cost increases, or the fact that some insurance companies are beginning to write in specific exclusions for Driver’s Schools in their auto policies, or maybe even the rising cost of gasoline, the number of registrations are down.  Of course, this snowballs as registration fees are calculated based on a full school and if they don’t fill, the income is less than expected and therefore, in order to have the income you need, you need to raise registration fees, which may hurt attendance and on and on.  Other Chapters are facing the same dilemma as Chapters are cross-promoting events to try to fill their schools. 

It seems as though many participants who used to do all three of our schools now have made the choice to do only one or two.  Basically, we can attack this problem a few ways.  We could lower the price and hope that attracts more participants, but then the run groups get too crowded.  We could continue to raise the fees and hope we don’t lose too many more participants, or we could forfeit one of our dates and therefore maybe fill two schools.  We’re working on it as we speak. 

Oktoberfest is coming up quickly (July 23^rd – 28^th), but there should still be time to register if you haven’t done so yet.  Don’t miss out on the fun.  If you are still on the fence about going, check out the Oktoberfest section on www.bmwcca.org for more details.  Future Chapter events include a Fun Rally on August 20^th, and ’02 Fest East, Driver’s School and the Humpa Picnic, all in September.

Picking up where last month left off in F1 news, San Marino saw Michael Schumacher and Ferrari back on the top step of the podium, but with Fernando Alonso and Renault second, he did not make up much ground in the Championship.  Our boys came home 12^th and 13^th, with Villeneuve last on the lead lap and Heidfeld one lap down.  The European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring saw the same order for the top two, and the BMW boys improved to 8^th and 10^th with Villeneuve again besting Heidfeld.  One of BMW’s modest goals for the season was to improve on the Constructor’s Championship position of the Sauber team from last year.  So far, they are accomplishing that.  I’m sure that secretly, they would also love to beat Williams in the Constructor’s Championship and so far; they are accomplishing that as well.  They have a long way to go to be a true contender, but even McLaren with a more established team and a much better driver line-up is finding it difficult to compete with Renault and Ferrari.  So, about all we can hope for is continued improvement.

National membership is now 75,556 up a modest .43% over last year, but maybe showing progress as a result of the membership contest. 

I hope to see you at an event soon.