Members of the Club Racing Advisory Committee, including yours truly, and Club Racing Staff met in Columbus, Ohio all day April 8, 2000 to look at long term goals for CR and to tell with an assortment of key issues. I will report on some of these issues below.

Onboard fire systems

I'm going to begin by summarizing an issue which is of special importance to Canadian BMW racers whose primary racing venue is CASC or FAQ road racing. These series do not require onboard fire systems for modified cars as they do in the States under SCCA regulations. The CR regulation now requires such systems. The bottom line is that Canadian participants will have the requirement waived for this year only since this was deemed to be a safety issue. The correspondence I had with the new National Technical Steward, Tim Leicht, appears below. I probably should have been clearer and stated that Canadian use only fire EXTINGUISHERS not fire SYSTEMS. But I think Tim's concerns would have led him to the same conclusion.

By the way, it is possible to request a mid-year rules change or to request that the rules committee change the requirement for 2001. As things stand, you cannot show up at a club race next year with a modified car on slicks and expect to be granted a waiver for the event on the spot. It ain't going to happen.

Note from Phil Abrami to Tim Leicht:

I've had a couple of inquiries about the CR rules in modified classes for Canadian cars running in Ontario (CASC) or Quebec (FAQ) race series. The current CR rules for modified classes are "intended for the SCCA GT class competing at the regional level". I'd like to see the rules extended to include Canadian cars competing in the equivalent CASC and FAQ classes who are also competing at the regional level.

One difference would be the requirement in 8.G (p. 25) of an approved "SCCA on-board fire systems with a minimum of two nozzles". CASC and FAQ have no such requirement. Therefore, I'm suggesting that we allow Canadian cars, for which documentation exists that they are currently being used in CASC and FAQ series, an exemption from CR modified rules which are at variance with Canadian racing regulations.

There are now several Canadians who are committed to running their BMWs in Ontario and Quebec regional series as their primary racing venues. I'd also like them to run at least the Canadian club racing events as a way to build up CCA CR in Canada in much the same way we're trying to get SCCAers to participate in American club racing events as a way to build up CCA CR in the States. To do that, we need to make the transition for racers from their primary series as painless and inexpensive as possible. For example, I believe this is exactly the thinking that went into allowing IT cars flexibility in joining CR.

At a minimum, I request that we waive requirements, in particular the two nozzle rule, for active CASC/FAQ license holders only to allow them to participate with their cars in CCA CR events in Canada. My preference would be to allow active CASC/FAQ license holders this waiver for any CCA CR event. Active means a valid current CASC/FAQ license and logbook with at least two CASC/FAQ races in the last 12 months. This waiver would NOT apply to Canadian CCA CR racers in general. Alternately and as a last resort, we may wish to offer this waiver on a per event basis only (e.g., at Mosport Dayze II only).

Reply from Tim Leicht:

According to your note the cars involved already have a fire system within the passenger compartment. If that is the case, it is a fairly inexpensive modification to add another nozzle to the system. Therefore, in the interest of promoting BMWCCA Club Racing, I will allow a one season waiver for these cars to compete with other BMW Club Racers. However, I urge you and all the other people involved to suggest that the second nozzle be installed as soon as possible for their own safety now. If they want to continue to compete, the complete fire system, as per the rules, MUST be in place by the beginning of the next season.

Financial matters

The (inter) national Club Racing organization manages the programme by relying on sponsorship support and income from merchandising, license fees, etc. For several years, a major source of support came from our title sponsor the Tire Rack. Tire Rack is on board again for the 2000 season. Their financial contribution is essential to our programme and explains why the Tire Rack windshield banners are required on all race entrants for the 2000 season. If you are a racer please don't forget to order yours from our registrar, Fran Hughes, soon. You can choose from several nifty colors and the banners are re-useable.

One dilemma we face as the programme grows more successful is that there are greater demands on CR staff. For example, the growing number of events means an escalation in the travel expenses borne by the programme. In future, therefore, chapter organizers of successful events will be asked to bear more of the expenses associated with holding a club race. This seems reasonable in view of the tradition of US chapters who keep all event profits.

In Canada, Frank Gray has been working hard to find sponsors for Mosport Dayze II, in particular, and for our club and club racing events in general including BAB4 at Le Circuit, Mt. Tremblant in 2001. He has lined up a major tire manufacturer who is interested in providing free tire service at our Mosport (and Le Circuit) events and may also underwrite some of the costs of MD2. Frank has also had expressions of interest from a specialty motor oil company and a concours wax company. Finally, Frank has helped encourage BMW Canada to increase their support for our events. There is no question that BMW Canada, who provided the pace car, were pleased with their involvement in MD1. There is every indication they will be back for more. I hope you join me in wishing Frank, Rob Foreman, our president, Gerry Low, our National Marketing Director, and others best wishes in these and similar pursuits.

In the United States and for CR generally, a concerted effort will be made to increase awareness of club racing among club members, to engage in external promotion and fund-raising, and to increase media coverage including television. To do so, CR is currently examining ways to best accomplish these objectives through internal volunteers, through a fee-for services arrangement with a motorsport marketing firm, or some combination of the two.

Goals of Club Racing

At the Columbus meeting we re-affirmed the basic mission of CR:

"A competitive driving experience for all BMW CCA enthusiasts, in any/all types of BMW's in a fun, safe, and friendly environment where the primary emphasis is on clean driving and machinery preservation."

The programme is currently in good health. There are more than 30 events around North America and the number of event entries continues to grow with a steady increase in the number of license holders which currently number almost 600 racers. The CR books are balanced and the incident rate has declined from 37 in 1998 to 26 in 1999.

To continue to insure the vitality of the programme and see it grow the following goals were set at the Columbus meeting:

1. Increase the number of racers to 2000 within a few years.
2. Reduce the incident rate.
3. Involve more chapters in hosting club race events.
4. Reduce participant event registration costs.
5. Reduce the costs of constructing and maintaining a competitive vehicle.
6. Increase the number and quality of CR staff.
7. Increase CR income by no less than $100,000.
8. Establish regional race schools for licensing.

Safety and Skill Development

In analysing the incident rate, our CR stewards were able to determine that a number of incidents were caused by mechanical problems. Several steps have already been taken to alleviate this problem (e.g., technical bulletins). An important additional safeguard will be annual technical inspections. Some of these may be done at recognized area service facilities. Greater care will also be placed on license approval, race schooling, and rookie mentorship. Fran Hughes will be stricter in the requirements for a club racing license. There will be more race schools around the continent. Our three-day event format lends itself well to the addition of a race school and I will pursue this possibility for Le Circuit and possibly Mosport in the future. Finally, all rookies will be assigned mentors by their regional CRAC members working in consort with the CR registrar.

Otherwise, safety at events will be further insured by giving the event steward greater discretion by allowing for the assignment of shorter duration penalties when warranted. The naming of an Appeals Committee before each event will insure due process and a mechanism for reasoned discussion in the event of a dispute.

All racer medical forms should be copied and placed in a binder with the ambulance(s)/EMT crew. TRAKMED system is recommended by CR for race participants. Ambulance(s) must be equipped for Advance Life Support (ALS) with a technician trained in ALS.

Club Racing has also requested greater cooperation with the Driving Events Committee (DEC). In my opinion, the curriculum for driving schools is in need of overhaul now that BMW have progressed from power-limited cars (e.g., 2002) to grip-limited cars (e.g., M3). We need to slow these fast cars down by introducing more chicanes into road courses where the emphasis needs to be on car control rather than speed. And we need to arm the school participant with a greater repertoire of driving skills.

In that regard, I'm in favor of removing turn-in, apex, and track out cones later in events and for advanced students to better encourage their sense of vision and balance. I also am an advocate of exercises where students practice off-line cornering exercises for some portion of a run group. Exercises like this will help re-emphasize handling into the driving school curriculum and, at the same, time serve to build a better bridge for the advanced student and instructor to make the transition to club racing. With active cooperation, the "one step up" from school events to club race events is not going to be a leap.

Tidbits and Loose Ends

The BMW ACA Puget Sound is voting on whether to become a chapter of the BMW CCA. They have already expressed an interest in working with Cub Racing to host the Portland Rose Cup Race this year and to support a calendar of races in 2001. This is wonderful news for our Western chapters and for the BMW Club of British Columbia.

Club Racing will try to support up to six national races per region in the foreseeable future. CR may also allow regional races, without national support and contingency awards, but with CR staff as demand allows. Regional races need about 15 racers per event for a chapter to break even.

CRAC will help coordinate the 2001 racing calendar with CR staff. All chapters should make their preliminary plans known by November, 2000 so that a draft schedule can be established.

There is a possibility that club racing will be welcome at Watkins Glen as early as next year. Do the letters "EMRA" mean anything to you? (Hint: Eastern Motorsports...)

That's it for this installment. Let's go racin'

Phil