News

Our 2024 Motorkhana Round 4 was run on Sunday. It was a quieter day with 32 entrants rather than our usual full field of 40 however this meant a lot of time to practice motorkhana techniques and oversteer control at the end of the day! The sun stayed out but the wind picked up meaning the timing tent had to be taken down as during lunch it decided to move itself several metres. Thank you to Jake for stopping it completely running away! Thank you to all of the volunteers for helping out on the day (Bob, Victor, Mat, Ayanav, Kim and James) and to all of the competitors for helping make it another successful event.

Overall

1st Andrew Best (Ford Focus RS)

2nd James Hughes (Mazda NB MX-5)

3rd Alex Wong (E60 M5)

BMWs

1st Alex Wong (E60 M5)

2nd Chris Benny (F87 M2)

3rd Philip Middlebrook (E92 335i)

Others

1st Andrew Best (Ford Focus RS)

2nd James Hughes (Mazda NB MX-5)

3rd Patrick Kong (Subaru BRZ)

Shootout

1st Philip Middlebrook (E92 335i)

2nd Patrick Kong (Subaru BRZ)

3rd Alex Wong (E60 M5)

Thanks to those who attended the AGM last week, and to all those who voted by proxy.

The incoming Committee is as follows;

President                                                                   John Cotter

Vice President                                                          David Gillies

Club Secretary and conditional registrar             Randall Lumbewe

Treasurer                                                                   Ian McLachlan

Motorsport Manager and Club Delegate             Bob Williams

Social Events Manager                                             Ashleigh Sherry

General Committee – Member Secretary             David Hogg

General Committee – Merchandise                       Freya Hogg

General Committee – IT                                           Philip Middlebrook

General Committee – Motorsport                          Nick Hanania

General Committee                                                  Peter Quinlan

General Committee                                                   Stephen Page

The financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2024, which had been scrutinised by a certified professional, were presented to the meeting by David Gillies, with attendees noting the losses experienced from SuperSprint events. This year has seen a decline in participation in supersprints, and this is the same experience with other car clubs.  The Committee has acted to reduce any losses going forward, including reducing the number of events to be held each year and combining our events with other clubs to share costs and improve the total number of participants.  Additionally, a brief additional verbal report was given by the reviewer of the accounts. The financial statements were accepted by the meeting.

The special resolutions were read and explained by John Cotter. After discussion, some minor amendments were made to a couple of the resolutions. All resolutions were passed by the required greater than 75% majority, without the need for Chairman proxies.

The member motion calling for the Club to appoint an auditor went to a vote, even though the accounts had already been reviewed. The motion was defeated, without the need for Chairman proxies.

For the Committee election, Edward Forgacs and Gary Speechly withdrew their nominations. A vote proceeded for the position of Club Secretary. Randall Lumbewe was the clear preference for this position, without the need for Chairman proxies.

Congratulations and thank you to those making up the Committee, and committing to the significant volunteer work involved, for the next 12 months or so.

Dear BMW Club members, Innovation has played a central role in the BMW Group strategy throughout its 108-year history, defining its products and position as a world leader in the automotive industry.  The company’s people are the driving force behind this success, developing pioneering industry-first technologies and solutions that set BMW apart from its competitors. One of those innovators is Sydney-born engineer, Dr. Stella Clarke. For the past two decades, Stella has been based in Munich, responsible for a variety of advanced concepts for BMW. Her impressive work includes development of haptic cockpit control systems – such as the intuitive switchgear found in modern BMW interiors – and the groundbreaking ‘e-ink’ technology, which allows a vehicle’s exterior colour to change with a simple swipe of a smartphone touchscreen. Stella has been captivating audiences around the world with insights to her work, and now she is set to do the same in her home country. We would invite BMW Club members to our upcoming online event via the Microsoft Teams platform to hear from Stella about her career and the exciting initiatives she is currently working on. The session will include a presentation from Stella and ample opportunities to ask questions. When:                 Monday, August 26th, 2024 Time:                    6-7pm Link:                    MS Teams Link RSVP:                  August 16, to Bailey Gifford, chair@bmwclubsaustralia.org.au We look forward to providing you all with insights from one of BMW’s true innovators. Warm regards, Corporate Communications BMW Group Australia

We've been going through the results of the Member survey conducted recently. In summary;

- Members prefer not to attend the current number of Supersprint events each year.

- Members consider that the entry fee is the biggest cost component when deciding whether to enter an event, however, cost of living pressure is not the main reason.

- The current Supersprint format is preferred, and the favourite track is SMSP GP Circuit.

- Weekend day is the slightly favoured time for a Supersprint, however, almost half said that it didn't matter if it was day or night, or weekend or weekday.

Consequently, the Committee has taken action to limit the BMW Club Supersprints to 4 for 2025, and look to join other Clubs where appropriate. It is also one of the drivers behind the cancellation of two events this year.

- For social events, weekend day drives and cars and coffee events were the favourite, with no clear preference regarding which day to hold them.

- The preferred medium through which Torque of the Town is available was quite evenly split, with a preference for an online version being available.

Thank you all who responded to the survey and congratulations to Max Levesque, Rod Minetti, and Peter Pengilley who are the lucky winners of an item of merchandise. I will contact each of you separately to arrange your prize.

More details of the survey results will be published in the next edition of Torque of the Town.

Note from BCCM Munich

We have exciting news to share with you! Starting next year, there will be a special room in the BMW Museum in Munich dedicated to our club’s content. To make this project a success, we need your support. What We're Looking For: We are seeking high-resolution images of club members with their BMWs. These photos will be displayed on a wall in the "Encounters" room at the BMW Museum. What Makes a Great Photo: We especially love photos that capture spontaneous moments. However, pictures where you are proudly posing in front of your BMW are also welcome. Important Notice: Please note that the images will be visible to all visitors throughout the exhibition. By providing us with your photos, you agree to their public display in accordance with the GDPR. Send us your pictures at: bccm@bmwgroup-classic.com. How You Can Help: Please share this call with all club members and help us make this special exhibition a success! Thank you for your support, and we look forward to your submissions! Best regards, Your BMW Club & Community Management Team

Our 2024 Motorkhana Round 3 was held yesterday on the skidpan at Sydney Motorsport Park. The sun was out but so was the wind, keeping the volunteers busy with drifting cones and flying marquees but we got there in the end.

The event was fully sold out with 40 drivers entered with a good mixture of cars all round. The event started a little slow with competitors trickling in, no thanks to the million Fords taking part in the show and shine next door at the drag strip. Competition was tight with the top order changing every round. Thank you to all of the volunteers for assisting with running the event, those who stayed to the end to help pack up and to all of the competitors to making it another fantastic event. Special mention to Andrew Best's CV joint for sacrificing itself for the win. Worth it!

Overall

1st Andrew Best (Ford Focus RS)

2nd Alex Wong (E82 135i)

3rd Chris Benny (F87 M2)

BMWs

1st Alex Wong (E82 135i)

2nd Chris Benny (F87 M2)

3rd Adam Fish (F20 M140i)

Others

1st Andrew Best (Ford Focus RS)

2nd James Hughes (Mazda NB MX-5)

3rd John Driver (Toyota 86)

Shootout

1st James Hughes (Mazda NB MX-5)

2nd John Driver (Toyota 86)

3rd Paul Pettersen (Toyota Yaris GR)

Attendance at the Club's SuperSprint events has been down all year, while the cost of events has risen. We have heard from other clubs that run track days that attendance at their events has also been lower than previous. This has an impact on the ability of the Club to fund SuperSprints going forward.

Yesterday's event at Eastern Creek cost the Club $22,800 including track hire of around $18,000. Attendance by 48 drivers equated to income of only $12,270 meaning a potential loss of over $10,000 on this event. The ARDC (managers of the Eastern Creek venue) graciously provided a rebate on the track hire cost of around $5,400 to lessen the loss. Note: if we were able to have a full field of 60 drivers, we would need to charge $380 per entry to cover the costs.

The recent Member survey attempted to find out why attendance has been lower than usual, and to gage preferences for the number of events and event formats. These results will inform the planning for the SuperSprint calendar for next year and likely result in fewer BMW Club only events, with participation in multi-club events to supplement event numbers. Hopefully these changes will continue to provide valuable benefits to Members while eliminating financial losses on events next year.

I am pleased to provide the update that our external consultant has been reviewing the content and format of the Club's website, and also the Membership migration data. We are working closely with him to prioritise the work items and will keep you all updated on the progress.

On Saturday we held our 2024 Motorkhana Round 2 event at Sydney Motorsport Park. It was a wet one with rain on (mostly) and off throughout the day but this didn't dampen any of the fun. In fact the rain kept the skidpan probably more consistently wet than with the sprinklers and arguably kept the cars a bit cleaner too! The event was fully sold out with 38 out of 40 drivers turning up. There was a good mix of cars from from an E30 to a couple of brand new G87 M2s as well as a bunch of interesting non-BMWs including a Yaris GR, a turbo 86 and the Robinson's diff welded Ford Falcon. Thank you as always to the volunteers who helped out on the day (Bob Williams, Victor Yee, Matt, Dominique, Rod and Andrew)

Congratulations to the top drivers of the day!

Overall
1st Andrew Best (Ford Focus RS)
2nd James Hughes (Maxda NB MX-5)
3rd Alex Wong (Maxda NB MX-5)

BMWs
1st Phlip Middlebrook (E92 335i)
2nd Benjamin Benny (F87 M2)
3rd Rod Minetti (F20 M140i)

Others
1st Andrew Best (Ford Focus RS)
2nd James Hughes (Maxda NB MX-5)
3rd Alex Wong (Maxda NB MX-5)

Shootout
1st James Hughes (Maxnda NB MX-5)
2nd Philip Middlebrook (E92 335i)
3rd Paul Pettersen (Toyota Yaris GR)

Have you downloaded the Wild Apricot app to your smartphone yet? See what events are coming, register for the events, check what you have registered for, see your Membership information, access your Membership card, and much more. Search Wild Apricot member app in your app store and use your website login details to set up access.