President’s Column, October 2007
by Bob Morin
On August 26th, New Country BMW played host to the Chapter at a very successful Open House event and we had a terrific turnout. Thanks to Tim Parker and the guys at New Country for having us. Over Labor Day Weekend, Lime Rock held their Vintage Fall Festival and many of our members attended at least one of the three days, thanks to BMW of North America who supplied complimentary tickets on a first come, first served basis. Unfortunately, I’m told this will have been the last year that BMW NA will be involved with this event. September 9th required some choices, if you were a CVC member looking for something to do. The Chapter held our annual ’02 Fest East, a Regional Event, this year held at Kimball Farms in Westford, MA. The site was outstanding for this type of event, but was a bit of a drive for most CVC members and apparently, we don’t really like to drive our cars. There were a few things working against us. The distance to the site was one, but also the fact that there was a publicized rain date and the weather was iffy, so people may have felt like the rain date would be used and stayed home. Overall, as the event was co-chaired by the Boston Chapter, holding their Regional Concours at the same time, attendance was fairly strong, but the number of 2002s was way down as was any support from our Chapter for the event. That was a shame because the facility really did have a lot to offer. Also, potentially working against us was the Vintage race weekend at Watkins Glen that same weekend and BMW was the featured marque, so I know some went there instead. Oh well, we’ll probably try something different next year. Thanks to jerri & Willy Wiley for all the work they put into this event every year. In November, Steve Wasley is organizing another Kart Event at On Track Karting in Wallingford, CT on the 11th. Details are in the DZ and here, but space is limited, so sign up early. After that, we will close out the 2007 calendar with our annual Holiday Party on December 1st at the Stevenson Firehouse, in Stevenson, CT. It’s that time again when we ask you to give some thought about running for a position on your Chapter’s board. All positions are open, but you may want to start as a member-at-large to get used to how things happen. We are always looking for fresh faces, so if you would like more information, contact any board member. The F1 season continues to be the most interesting in recent memory. Turkey was next up on the calendar and here Massa out-qualified rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton, while Räikkönen and Alonso made up the second row. So we had Ferrari, McLaren, Ferrari, McLaren, in the front two rows. The third row was all BMW with Kubica out-qualifying Heidfeld. Once underway however, things would change and while Massa held the top spot Räikkönen got Ferrari a one-two finish. Alonso moved up to third with Heidfeld grabbing what seems to be BMW Sauber’s reserved spot, fourth and Hamilton falling to fifth. In spite of Kubica falling back to eighth, BMW still put more distance on Renault to maintain third in the Constructor’s Championship. Italy and Monza was next up and Ferrari wanted desperately to build on their one-two in Turkey to please their home fans. But the handwriting was on the wall early as the McLarens qualified first and second as the Ferrari seemed unable to handle the low down force required to successfully fly around Monza. Massa managed third on the grid, but Räikkönen was fifth behind Heidfeld who qualified a terrific fourth. To the great disappointment of the Tifosi, the McLarens held their positions to the finish, while Massa dropped out and Räikkönen saved some Ferrari honor taking the final spot on the podium. When Hamilton got by Räikkönen late in the race, the cameras showed a shot in the Ferrari garage with all the mechanics looking down and out and then they showed the McLaren mechanics who enjoyed that shot immensely. Heidfeld held fourth with Kubica right behind. Belgium was next, but right before Belgium came the amazing news that McLaren was going to be excluded from the Manufacturer’s Championship in 2007 and fined $100,000,000 (although the team’s drivers can still compete for the Driver’s Championship) as a result of the ruling in the Stepnygate Industrial Espionage case. The ruling handed the title to Ferrari. Interestingly, when asked how he felt about winning a title in this fashion, Luka Montezemolo of Ferrari said they would gladly accept the trophy and that it was well deserved while BMW’s Mario Theissen, who was now pretty much assured of second in the Championship was asked how he felt and he said he wanted nothing to do with moving up in the Championship as the result of a court ruling. That tells me everything I need to know about why I don’t like Ferrari. There was still a race to be run and Ferrari was back on their game with Räikkönen and Massa one-two in qualifying and the race. Alonso and Hamilton were three-four in qualifying and the race, so there wasn’t much action in this one. Heidfeld started sixth and finished fifth, while Kubica had to do an engine change and was penalized ten grid positions, so only started fourteenth, and couldn’t quite get up into the points, finishing ninth. So Hamilton leads the Championship by two points over Alonso with Räikkönen a further eleven back, followed by Massa, Heidfeld and Kubica. In News From National, membership was up slightly to 76,093. You still have a short amount of time left if you wish to run or nominate someone to run for National President, Executive Vice-President or North Atlantic Regional Vice-President (October 31st deadline). Check out www.bmwccafoundation.org if you are interested in learning more about a raffle that could potentially win you an E36 M3 for only $10 (tickets are 1 for $10, 3 for $25, or 7 for $50). Have you been waiting for an Oktoberfest that was less than a day’s drive? Mark your calendar for next year (September 23rd to 28th, 2008) and Watkins Glen, NY. I’ve got to go pack for this year’s O’fest. Hope to see some of you there. Bob Morin |
