The BimmerOctober - November 2022

The Bimmer

October - November 2022

BMW Club Queensland Newsletter

BMW Club Queensland

October to December 2022

THE BIMMER NEWS October to December 2022 President’s Message Again, the club year ended well with a very busy three months with a spread of events and great attendance.

The first social event was on October 8th, a drive, tour and lunch at the Yandina Ginger Factory We had 63 members and guest who started out from the Shell Coles Express at Glass House Mountains with a bonus, free fuel from our sponsor Hyper Racing, then a scenic drive to Yandina. There we toured the factory, had a Ginger tasting followed by lunch.

14th October, Round 5 of the RX Automotive Sprint series art lakeside, and on the same day, Motorsport Australia held a special event at the Norwell Motorplex, “Women in Motorsport” A number of our club members attended this special day.

At the same time, I was off to the USA to share in the BMW Car Clubs of Americas celebration of 50 years of ///M in South Carolina. It was a very special weekend with a VIP dinner with guest speakers Eddie Cheever and Bill Auberlen at the BMW factory at Spartanburg, a visit to the BMWCCA Foundation to see their 50 years of ///M display, a full day of special ///M cars at the BMW Performance Driver Training Center, a drive into the mountains with the ///M Chapter and a visit to a special private BMW collection. I had an opportunity to tell the story of the BMW Clubs in Australia at one of their events See the photos of my trip HERE. Their hospitality was outstanding, especially my hosts Ian Branston & Lindsey Sizemore Branston.

More motorsport in October with the 25th Noosa Hillclimb. A major sponsor of the event was Coastline BMW. Lots of BMW's and club members there, in the wet.

Next on 20th November, there was a social drive and lunch to the western ranges finishing at the quaint Meringandan Pub for lunch.

More special motorsport with Challenge Bathurst from 24-27th November. We had a number of club members participate and a couple of them told us their stories.

Kristian Steenstrup video HERE. Also Chris Price came to our December Muster and recounted his adventure HERE. To finish off November, we had our annual awards Presentation with a lunch at the Broncos Leagues Club.

Click HERE for a video review of the awards and a wrap up of the 12 months of BMWCQ. December 3rd was an afternoon Regularity at Lakeside sponsored by Hyper Powersports. Great to see some first time motorsport participants there on the day.

Our final muster for the year, this time hosted by the BMW Group + QUT Design Academy at their studio at the Kelvin Grove Campus. It was interesting to find out how a place as remote as Brisbane are working hand in hand with BMW AG to develop incredible technologies to aid the production of our marque. Video HERE. The final official event we were involved in for December was on Saturday 10th at the Bardon Shed for the ICC awards presentation. It was the final year for Paul Clemens as chair of the ICC so there was special presentation to him for his tireless work over the years.

Also, a special congratulations to the participating members of BMWCQ for taking out the Winning Club of the year. Video HERE To finish off October, we were by the ICC to participate BTW, check out the ICC Facebook Group HERE in the MR2 Car Clubs Navigation Run. These events are always good fun and it was great to see a good role up of cars and members from various clubs.

November 18th saw another ICC event, this time a Khanacross hosted by the Holden Sporting Car Club at Willowbank.

On the same day was round one of the 2023 RX Automotive Sprint series at Lakeside Park.

“Winners are Grinners” Lauchlan Thackwell-James, Gary CJ Schweikert, Christine Murphy, Jane Musgrave, Robert Bradford, Daryl Kan.

BMW Club Queensland

BMWCQ Events Social Drive - Yandina Ginger Factory Lunch & Tour On Saturday the 6th of October the club held a drive to and social event at Yandina Ginger Factory. The day began at the Shell Glasshouse mountains where cars were fueled up thanks to Brendan Cooke of Hyper Racing. The drive to the ginger factory followed the scenic roads of the Glasshouse Mountains and the Moolooah Valley. Upon arrival at the ginger factory we were shown around the factory and given an in depth explanation of how ginger is grown harvested and made into huge range of ginger products. The tour finished with a tasting session of many of the fine products produced at the factory. The day finished with a fantastic two course lunch provided in the Blue Ginger room More images HERE and videos HERE

October to December 2022

BMWCQ Events

BMW Club Queensland

October to December 2022

BMWCQ Events Noosa Hillclimb - October 21st - 23rd The 2022 Noosa Hill Climb Summer Challenge marked the fourth occasion I've competed in this great event & one that I recommend to anyone with an interest in cars. From a spectators point of view it's a fantastic weekend of Motorsport with brilliant access to all the competition vehicles, whether that's walking through the pits or the many up-close vantage points along the hill.

Another great element of this event is the huge variety of vehicles, everything from rally cars, V8 muscle cars, open wheelers, historics to the latest modern sports cars & everything in between. As a competitor, the track itself is especially challenging with a mix of fast & tight sections that make it very rewarding to drive & with a decent number of vehicles entered within all categories it makes for some friendly competition across the weekend. The 2022 Summer Challenge had Coastline BMW as the major sponsor with the event forming part of their 50 years of BMW M celebrations which included a display of past & current BMW M vehicles as well as having a number of customers competing in the event. It was extremely wet over the course of the weekend and although it wasn't ideal weather for your time spent outside the car it did provide another exciting challenge to an already difficult stretch of road & ensured this edition would be memorable for all that competed.

If you've never been or are thinking about entering, there's two events held each year & I highly recommend heading to at least one.

By Darren Newell More images HERE

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BMWCQ Events Womens Introduction to Motorsport - October 16th An absolutely brilliant day at Norwell Motorplex for the Motorsport Australia (MA) Women's Introduction to Motorsport Program! Eight "buddies" who are women already participating in motorsport as competitors and in official positions were on hand to help support the participants. We had two sessions with 21 participants. We started the day with theory on car control, how to enter events, what to expect on the day and what happens at scrutineering. Then they moved on to braking, maneuvering courses and finishing at the skin pan for a Motorkhana, with the most consistent driver winning a trophy!

At lunch time we were lucky to have Melinda Price speak with the group about her motorsport history and her current love of racing in the Excel Cup! As a young lady she was one of the trailblazers for women in motorsport, with many achievements under her belt including a record still standing at Bathurst.

Everyone who attended today had a fantastic time, learned some new skills and made some great new friends! This event was a huge success and I am proud to have been able to assist Motorsport Australia facilitate this event and of our BMWCQ ladies in motorsport who were buddies and participants . I'm sure this will be the start of many more hosted by Motorsport Australia!!

More photos and video HERE

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October to December 2022

BMW Club Queensland

Inter Club Challenge Report by Christine Murphy ICC - Navigation Run - MR2 Club QLD Well done all! This was a fun day and really well organised by the MR2 Club! Approximately three hours of adventures up and down the mountains finding answers to questions, finished off with a lovely lunch.

Shout out to Chris and Michaela Grayson with 518 points coming 6th Outright and best BMWCQ members. Next we're Gary and Sue Schweikert with 511 points coming 8th Outright and 2nd of the BMWCQ members. Then Dee Powell and Steve Bass with 496 points coming 13th Outright and 3rd BMWCQ member.

ICC - Khanacross - Holden Sporting Car Club Well done to everyone that competed today and a huge thank you to Bruce and Lorraine McLean for coming out as spectators to support the team Jane and I took them for a spin on the sighting lap which they enjoyed Everyone kept improving through the day. Individual Outright positions were Ian O'Hara in 5th, Daryl Kan in 7th (taking out 2nd place also in his class in the QLD championship), Jane Musgrave in 16th, Todd McGuire in 22nd and Christine Murphy in 26th.

That was the last event for the ICC in 2022.

ICC Awards Presentation The ICC Awards Presentation was hosted by ZCar Club Qld on 10 December. BMW Club QLD and it's members made a huge impression on the competition in 2022 and it will shows in the results.

As the ICC rep for our Club I wanted to give a big congratulations to our individual winners: Ian O'Hara who placed first in Outright and Road Registered, Daryl Kan who placed 3rd in Outright and Road Registered, Ben Nicol who won the Regularity (Ben was unwell so I accepted on his behalf). Both Ian and Daryl have been strong competitors and supporters in the Inter-Club Challenge Queensland and turned it up to 100 this year! Ben is a familiar face in club motorsport and has caught the ICC bug, so watch out for him in 2023! Let's give these guys a huge round of applause.

Then, the Club, we took home the Outright and Road Registered shield and trophy! Every driver who placed top 4 in each event got this home for us with the support of all other competitors! Thank you everyone for making this year fantastic, it has been a pleasure to be involved with. I'm proud of you all.

Finally, Paul Clemens, Chair of the ICC since 2017, is stepping down (but not away) from the position. Paul is a well-respected and well-known face in motorsport both in QLD and Other states. Paul has ensured that the ICC is an enjoyable and competitive competition for all Club's and drivers of any level while always being friendly, encouraging, and supportive. All clubs paid tribute to him with a very special gift. Thank you Paul. I am very proud to announce that I have been voted in as the new Chair and I am looking forward to supporting all Clubs and drivers and growing the competition.

Navigation Run photos HERE Khanacross video HERE Awards presentation photos HERE and video HERE

October to December 2022

BMW Club Queensland

Inter Club Challenge Report

BMW Club Queensland

BMWCQ Events December Muster BMW Design Group QUT & Challenge Bathurst - December 09th On the evening of 6th December we gathered for our final event for the year the Decmber Muster. The event was held QUT Design Academy at Kelvin Grove giving us an insight into the incredible design programs they have in place to develop the future technologies for BMW. An excellent presentation was also given by club member Chris Price about his recent experiences attending Challenge Bathurst. Chris Price presentation video HERE Challenge Bathurst photos HERE and Bathurst video

by Kristian Steenstrup HERE

October to December 2022

BMWCQ Events Western Ranges Run - November 20th On Sunday 20th November we held our last drive event for the year. Sixty eight members departed from Orion Springfield central and covered many interesting backroads of the Great Diving Range. Running thry Toowoomba the drive ended with lunch at the quaint Meringandan Pub. An enjoyable day and great lunch was had by all who attended

BMW Club Queensland

October to December 2022

Celebration of 50 years of M USA - by Gary Schweikert As a member of BMWCCA, in early 2022, I received an email explaining the 50 years of ///M display that was being created at the Foundation and I thought how amazing that would be to see, but it's way too far to go and too expensive to get there. Then I saw another email about the special celebration weekend for the Power of ///M that was being planned for October 14-16th.

Sue said…”Just go!”

Thanks again to Ian and Lindsey Branston and Greg Mondeau for making me welcome and making it happen.

From the moment I announced I was going, it was overwhelming the response I received from so many people, again, the passion was evident. It’s wonderful to see that people are so willing to share their time & joy. It could be for anything but it just happens to be BMWs. Most of you will know all about the weekend with the special VIP event at the Zentrum with Tom Plucinsky, Eddie Cheever & Bill Auberlen, the massive ///M day at the Performance Driver Training Centre and the ///M Cars, coffee and run at the BMWCCA HQ. The highlight for me was to revisit the Foundation, now christened the Ultimate Driving Museum.

To give you some perspective, here in Australia, we have a few collectors of BMW’s but to see something like that display was breathtaking. There are so many of those cars that were never imported into Australia, so we just don’t get to see them, let alone drive them. To be able to spend hours wandering around the display and get up close and personal was incredible.

And pairs of ///M Cars, road & track versions…M1’s and 3.0CSL’s.. plural!

The staff of the museum were outstanding and to work as hard as they did leading up to and through the weekend is a credit to you all. The development of the museum since we visited in 2019 is astounding. Take a bow!

As I said, the passion.. whilst wandering around, it was evident that some of the people there were the owners of these cars and without exception, each of them were proud to be able to share their time with us all.

It is impossible to pick a favourite car, they are all exceptional and without any one of them, it would have been a lesser experience.

I must take a moment to thank Scott Hughes for giving me the honour to visit a very special ‘shed’. Words can not explain what I saw and again, the passion that was evident! Thank You! Again, I will say, it was the people who made my weekend worth the 30,000 kilometre round trip. To visit old friends and make new ones who share the passion.. No more needs to be said.

Except from Gary Schweikert’s excellent article entitled “Passion” full writeup available HERE & photos HERE

BMW Club Queensland

October to December 2022

Celebration of 50 years of M USA - by Gary Schweikert

BMW Club Queensland

October to December 2022

BMW Club Queensland Award Presentation Lunch November 29th

On Sunday 29th November the club held it’s annual end of year award presentation event at the Broncos Leagues Club with 79 member attending. We presented various trophies for the CarOne Automotive Show of Excellence that was held at Lakeside on the 18th September as well as other annual awards.

Special congratulations to the Most Supportive Country Members: Jeanette Handley & Phil Rout in Port Macquarie, the Most Supportive Members: Robert & Ann Bradford, the ICC Encouragement Award: Jane Musgrave. More photos HERE. Click HERE for a video review of the awards and a wrap up of the 12 months of BMWCQ. AWARD RESULTS

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BMW Club Queensland

October to December 2022

BMW Club Queensland Award Presentation Lunch November 29th

October to December 2022

BMW Club Queensland

Motorsport Report BWMCQ motorsport for the year wrapped up with the final round of the 2021-2022 RX Automotive Sprint Series held at at Lakeside Park on the 14th October with the first round of the 2022-23 season held on the 19th November where the awards were presented.

Here are the Natsoft results for the 14th October and 18th November.

HERE are the total points score for the 2021-22 series and details of the various class winners and the overall champion.

Also for the year, here are the winners for the Hyper Powersports ICC Regularity Challenge

Also, our annual GoKart Challenge winner.

July to September 2022

BMW Club Queensland

Membership Report

The number of new members for the last quarter of 2022 was somewhat lower than the hectic rate earlier in the year with 24 joining the club. Some of these elected for Standard +1 membership so their partners are now BMW Club Qld members.

John Payne BMWCQ Membership Officer

CHECK OUT THE NEW AND EXCITING MERCHANDISE AVAILABLE ON THE CLUB WEBSITE LOTS OF GREAT SYTLES TO SUIT EVERYONE. Click HERE to go to the store

Check out the range of BMW Club badges, stickers, caps and bucket hats now available in our online store on the website. These can be ordered along with the other great range of club merchandise that is now able for purchase. Something for everyone for sure!

October to December 2022

BMW Club Queensland

BMW NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD BMW are looking to release a production hydrogen fueld vehicle in the next few years based on the iX5 FCEV technology. Battery - Electric cars may have all the press at the moment but BMW is looking to launch a production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle later this decade and is building a fleet of X5 FCEV test cars to prove its point. See why hydrogen is back on BMW’s agenda.

Full article HERE

A great documentery detailing BMW’s history from the early years of aircaft engine manufacturer and motorcycle builder to a global player in the world automobile market.

Coving all it’s major models as well as the use of it’s motorsport program to further develop it’s road cars. Video link HERE.

Support our club sponsors Please support those businesses that support our club. They are still working but like many businesses they are feeling the pinch so please don’t forget to contact them..

Give them a call and support our supporters.

BMW Club Queensland

October to December 2022

A Big thank you to all of the committee and the club members who get together to arrange all the great events that we, as members get to enjoy. It has been said “The Cars are what bring us all together but it is the Members who make it such a great Club!!!

As usual, we are always on the look out for any contributions, stories or suggestions from you, so if you have anything please send it through to editor@bmwcq.com.au

Daren Foster- Editor eNewsletter