While reading through some back issues of Roundel magazine I noticed that many of the letters addressed to the editor were negative and some were truly nasty. Most of the negative ones were complaints about the cars themselves, i.e., the look of the cars, the feel of the cars, how the cars had grown to be too big, or how some models were too small inside. Some folks complained about the transmission, or squeaks behind the dashboard, or uneven tire wear, the list seemed to go on forever. Still others complained about the club itself. How it didn't provide enough of one thing or anotherI was saddened by their comments, not only because their grew boring quickly, but because my experiences as a BMWCCA member have been completely different from theirs. In the short three years that I have been with the BMWCCA I have had the opportunity to,
- Meet Steve Dinan and have him show me downloads from their Grand-Am program as well as invite me to Morgan Hill to drive a M5 prototype
- Have Sabine Schmitz as a driving instructor at Road America with the Badger Bimmers (thanks again to Jeff Joy)
- Tour the Team PTG paddock with Tom Milner and meet Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Justin Marks, and Tom Milner Jr.
- Meet the Bimmerworld team, James Clay and Seth Thomas,
- Learn car control and become a better driver
- Meet a bunch of non-famous, but really decent people.
And in the interest of providing some example of the things that make the BMWCCA a blast I thought that I would post a couple of clips of drivers that I have had the opportunity to meet and chat with. One from Bill Auberlen, factory BMW pilot, and another from James Clay, who started his career as a BMW Club Racer and progressed from there.
Here's Bill Auberlen at Road America
Here is James Clay at Sebring
