President’s Column, August 2007

by Bob Morin

On June 23rd, the Chapter visited Joe Marko at HMS Motorsport in Peabody, MA.  The curse of the car salesman (I have to work on Saturdays) prevented our attendance, but I understand we had a good group who made the trip and enjoyed the HMS hospitality.  Thanks to Roger Chartier for organizing this event.

Although we still have not received all the details, New Country Motorcars in Hartford, CT is holding an Open House for the Chapter.  Tentatively called Meet, Greet and Eat, they plan to host the Chapter while also including several vendors that should be of interest.  All I can say at this time is please mark down August 26th and then check the website (www.ctvalley.org) or wait for the e-mail blast to arrive in your in box.  We’ll get the information to you as soon as we receive it. 

September starts a very busy time with the Vintage Fall Festival at Lime Rock Park over the Labor Day weekend.  Then, on September 9th, we will be holding our Chapter’s regional ’02 Fest in conjunction with the Boston Chapter’s Concours at Kimball Farms in Westford, MA.  While we have always welcomed non-’02 owners to ’02 Fest, this should broaden the interest as there will be plenty of other great BMWs to ogle, or you may even wish to enter their concours as well. 

The Humpa Picnic is next up on September 23rd at our usual location at Williams Park, in Glastonbury, CT and then many of us will take to the road shortly after that as we head for Fort Worth, TX for Oktoberfest (September 30 – October 5). 

The F1 circus traveled back across the Atlantic after their North American visit.  While U.S. fans are left wondering if King Bernie the Bewildered will renew the contract with King George of Indy, the teams focused on France and Magny-Cours.  After the crash in Canada that kept Robert Kubica out of the Indy race, he was anxious to show that he was 100% and out-qualified his teammate, slating in at 4th on the grid while all Nick Heidfeld could manage was 7th.  Ahead of Kubica on the front row, Felipe Massa was on pole in his Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton put his McLaren in second while Kimi Räikkönen slotted in at 3rd.  As the race unfolded, it turned out that Räikkönen had the perfect pit strategy and after the second round of pit stops, came out ahead of his teammate Massa, who seemed quite miffed at the conclusion of the race.  Hamilton too, fell victim to the strategy and finally had a race in his young career where he finished lower than he started, coming home 3rd.  Kubica maintained 4th, keeping what Mario Theissen calls BMW’s reserved finishing spot for yet another race, while Nick Heidfeld managed to get past the two Renaults that had qualified ahead of him as they have started to show some signs of life.  With Heidfeld’s 5th, BMW scored 9 points, so it was a fairly productive race.

Next up was Silverstone (England) and Lewis Hamilton’s home Grand Prix.  Hamilton delivered on Friday as he topped the time chart in the first practice session.  Coming into the race as the points leader, if he could win his home Grand Prix, surely the crowd would go wild.  He continued to deliver when he ran well enough in qualifying to take pole, but the race was what counted.  Räikkönen managed 2nd on the grid, while Alonso was directly behind his teammate in third and Massa directly behind his teammate in 4th.  Kubica once again out-qualified Heidfeld falling in at 5th while surprising Ralf Schumacher was 6th.  The two Renaults were 7th and 8th and all Heidfeld could manage was 9th, his worst grid position of the season.  Clearly, Ferrari was back after their dreadful North American tour.  Of course, the sideshow was the controversy over the documents allegedly stolen from Ferrari that had found their way in to the hands of McLaren’s designer.  Can you say corporate espionage? 

While we wait to see how that sorts out in court, the racing goes on.  Hamilton had a good enough start to hold the lead while Kubica moved up a spot at the start and Heidfeld got a great jump and moved up two spots.  Once again, Räikkönen’s strategy outfoxed the McLaren boys and he got around Hamilton during the pit stops.  Worse than that for the home crowd, even Alonso got by Hamilton through pit strategy.  Although Lewis has still never finished a race off the podium, this is the second race in a row where he finished lower than he started.  He must be a has-been!  So, Räikkönen took his second straight, followed by Alonso, Hamilton and Kubica in BMW’s reserved 4th.  Heidfeld had run as high as 5th, but Massa, who started in pit lane after his car lost fire on the grid, had come all the way back through the field to split the BMW boys and finish 5th with Heidfeld 6th.  So BMW got another valuable 8 points and increased their lead over 4th place Renault in the Manufacturer’s Championship. 

Back to club business, News From National indicates that membership now stands at 76,314, up 0.81% over last year.  Since the beginning of the membership drive, 868 members have referred 1342 new members.  The Connecticut Valley Chapter remained 11th largest in the 2nd Quarter 2007 standings.  You should have received your flyer for this year’s raffle by now.  If not, contact the National Office. The 2007 Edition of Friends of BMW is due soon.  The big news from National however, was the announcement that Wynne Smith will be leaving her position as National Office head honcho.  Wynne, we all wish you well in your new endeavor.

That should take care of another month.