President’s Column, September 2004

by Bob Morin

I usually like to begin each month’s column by thanking those who have helped the Chapter by hosting an event since my last column was written. This time, we have had no events since my last column, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have someone to thank this month.

Those of you who use our website may have noticed a different look recently as we have a new webmeister. While the new site is still a work in progress, we are hopeful that it will become an even more useful service for our members. Iggy Makarevich is a name that long-time members will remember, as Iggy has served the Chapter as a member of the board in the past and also was Chapter Secretary for a number of years, as well as DZ Editor for a time.

Iggy replaced Michael Hurczyn who came forward a few years ago when we were looking for someone to fill that position. Michael took us from the dark ages of being one of the only Chapters in the BMW CCA without a website. He started from nothing and using a combination of suggestions and his own ideas, gave us a very nice site. The entire board wishes to offer their sincere thanks to Michael for the valuable service he provided to our membership during his tenure as webmeister.

This is a busy month for us. September 11th & 12th is a two-day ’02 Fest celebration with the Where 2 ? Rally on Saturday and ’02 Fest East on Sunday. The month ends with the Humpa Picnic on September 26th. Of course, October 22nd is our second (and last this year) Driver’s School. The recent trend is that the schools haven’t been filling up as quickly, so even if you haven’t registered yet, you may still be able to get in some run groups if you’re interested.

There has been a lot of talk recently about the F1 silly season. That’s the time of year when all the speculation occurs about which drivers will be switching teams and where they will be going. Well, if you are a BMW Williams fan, this whole season has been silly. First, Juan Pablo Montoya signs with one of your top competitors (in this case, both in F1 and in the world market; BMW vs. Mercedes) before the season even begins. Then comes the word that Ralf Schumacher thinks he’s as good as his brother Michael and is demanding ridiculous money from team owner Frank Williams. Adios Ralf! Then Sir Frank signs Mark Webber away from the floundering Jaguar team and now claims to have signed Jenson Button. The only problem is young Jenson still has a contract, with BAR Honda. See you in court, as they say. When he heard of the news about Button, Montoya reportedly said something like, “Is he crazy?” But overall, nothing has been sillier than the Williams team disappointing performance on the track. It’s one thing to fail to beat Ferrari. They’re from a different galaxy far, far away. But they are lucky to see a top five finish from one of their drivers when last year you could hope for a 1 - 2 at most every race. The latest race saw them abandon their elephant tusk nose for a more traditional one and immediately go faster. Jeez, don’t they even use a wind tunnel? BMW has already gone way past their usual lack of tolerance for spending without results. How much longer before they drop the program?

Here’s the News From National for this month. Membership has grown again to 76,558, up 110 members from last month and 4.71% over last year. Al Buchanan, the National Risk Manager and Legal Counsel stepped down at the end of July. Al served in this position for 2 ½ years but increased demands from his law practice have necessitated the decision. Although the date has yet to be nailed down, it looks like Techfest Midwest in Hoosierland will be in March of 2005. Nominations for National office are now being accepted for the upcoming election. Open positions this year are Treasurer and Secretary, as well as South Atlantic, North Central and Pacific Regional Vice-Presidents. See www.bmwcca.org for more details if you would like to run or nominate a candidate.

I need to get this off to Nancie, so that’ll do it for this month.