President’s Column, December 2006

There were no events in October, so the only event since my last column was the well-attended Kart Night organized by Steve Wasley, with some help from Dave Rich and held at On Track Karting in Wallingford, CT.  We had about 64 members and guests participate and everyone is already looking forward to the next one.  Thanks Steve and Dave for a great night. 

Looking ahead on the calendar, we have our January 27, 2007 Annual Dinner/Election.  As I type this, the ballot has not been completed, but you should find your copy in this issue of the DZ and I hope you will take the time to vote and especially to jot down some thoughts on our little survey.  The ballot can either be mailed in or (and we’d love to have you do this because it means you’d be attending) brought with you to the dinner.  Associate members will receive their ballots separately and through the mail.  As a bit of a bribery technique (maybe we should call it an incentive) one ballot will be drawn to win a free one-year membership extension.  We typically only get about 100 ballots, so you’ve got good odds, but only if you vote.  Of course, the election is only part of the evening as we also have good food, drink and the chance to sit down for the evening with your fellow members to entice you.  And this year our speaker, Michael Mitchell, the Office Manager and Curator of the BMW CCA Foundation, will be discussing the Foundation’s Street Survival Program.  This is a terrific teen driving school that we have high hopes of running in 2007, if we can just get over the hump of finding a suitable location.   

Events beyond the Annual Dinner are still in the planning stages, so no dates have been confirmed.  Watch the DZ and website calendars for more details.

The F1 season is over.  Since my last column, the final two races have occurred.  When I last wrote, the season was headed for an exciting conclusion with Michael Schumacher, who had recently announced he would retire at the end of this year, coming from a large deficit in points early in the season, to making it into a real battle with Fernando Alonso as they headed to Japan.  The unbelievable occurred in Japan and Michael’s engine expired on the 36th of 53 laps.  The typically bulletproof Ferrari had finally let him down.  This left him only a mathematical chance of claiming one last championship as they went into the final race in Brazil.  Facing a 10 point deficit, the only chance was for Alonso to finish 9th or worse and for Michael to win the race.  In Japan, the BMW boys qualified 9th and 12th, with Heidfeld besting Kubica and both managed to move up, Heidfeld one spot to 8th and Kubica to 9th.  Heidfeld’s point was valuable as BMW was locked in a battle with Toyota, who has suddenly shown some progress, for 5th place in the Constructor’s Championship. 

So the teams made the long trip from Japan to Brazil and Michael headed for his final race.  Although Alonso only needed an 8th or better to clinch, anything could happen.  In qualifying, Michael made it through the first two sessions and looked like he could have been contending for the pole, when the car developed another problem and he was unable to take a lap in the third session, relegating him to 10th on the grid.  Well, we all know that you can’t pass in F1.  The drivers tell us that at every race, so it was game over, right?  Not so fast, my friend.  Right from the start, Michael began to carve his way through the field.  At least until he came upon Alonso’s teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella.  Fisichella’s assignment was clearly to keep Michael behind him and shield Alonso who was still further toward the front, having started 4th.  Michael finally appeared as if he would get by, but then seemed to turn in too soon and Fisichella’s nose just brushed Michael’s left rear which caused the tire to go down and force Michael to not only pit off schedule, but to lose a great deal of time getting to the pits.  Now Michael seemed more determined than ever and he began the climb from even further back and with fewer laps remaining.  In the end, it may have been the most exciting drive of the year, but all he could manage was 4th and it was a moot point anyway as Alonso was to finish 2nd. 

Meanwhile, the resurgent Toyota team qualified 3rd and 7th and BMW 8th and 9th (Heidfeld again ahead of Kubica).  Heidfeld ended 17th, eight laps down after an accident and Kubica could only manage 9th after a much better drive than that, so neither scored points, but the two Toyotas failed to finish, so BMW-Sauber came home 5th in the Manufacturer’s Championship by one point over Toyota (remember that one point that Heidfeld got in Japan?).  This means that BMW moved Sauber up the ladder by three spots over their finishing position from last year, beat their old partner Williams by three spots (and 25 points!) and also finished ahead of Toyota, a team that probably outspends everyone else.  That was well enough to call their first season a reasonable success.  Now for the bad news, they were 50 points out of 4th and 170 points out of the lead, so they clearly have plenty of room to move up.  They have already announced that they are staying with the current driver lineup for 2007, which, while solid, is not exactly like having Alonso or Räikkönen on your side.  We’ll just have to see if they can continue to improve.

In News From National, membership now stands at 75,958, up 1.08% over last year.  Beginning December 1st, National will launch another membership drive similar to last year’s drive.  Those who sign up a new member have their membership extended one month.  Sign up two, two months, and so on with no limit.  The complete rules will be posted on the BMW CCA website.  Speaking of the National website, changes and improvements continue to be made as the site continues to evolve.  Check it out at www.bmwcca.org. 

Sheila and I would like to wish you and yours Best Wishes in the holidays ahead and a very safe, healthy, and Happy New Year!