2002tii Outruns Police Cruiser

Fred Beck and Justin Hughes

With four events under our belt, the Massachusetts BMW Retailer Autocross Series has reached the half-way mark for this season. A lot of fun has been had, and there's more to come! Our new preregistration program took effect for Autocross 3 on June 13th, and seems to be a success.

Thanks to the new procedures, most of the administrative work was completed before the event instead of on site as in the past. This enabled us to send the first car off at 9:15 am, over an hour earlier than previous events this year. We had plenty of time for four runs each, plus fun runs at the end of the day. Clouds and rain threatened all day, but held off until the end of the timed runs.

M3s and Mazdas dice it up at Autocross 3

At autocross 3 local hotshoe Dave Spragg clocked the FTD of 1:14.832 in his new M3, over two seconds faster than Edward Karabec's M3 Lightweight! This time is less than two seconds off the course record set by Francis O'Connor in his own M3 Lightweight at Autocross 2. It will be interesting to see if Dave's "heavy" M3 can continue to give Lightweights a run for their money.

Dave Spragg had FTD at Autocross 3 and 4. (photo by Dan Mull)

In the other corner, Mazdas were king among non-BMWs. The non-BMW FTD was 1:17.717 by Jim McNamara in his 1993 RX7, followed closely by Curt Zingg, also in an RX7, who in turn was followed by a pair of Miatas, one each in classes I and J. Interestingly, the Miata on street tires was a tad faster than the Miata on race tires. Many say that the driver, not the car, is 90% of the equation in autocross. They're not kidding!

Hot Pursuit at Autocross 4

Once again there was great weather and an excellent turnout for Autocross 4 on July 11. Despite a few logistic difficulties early that morning, we still sent the first car off before 10 am. Later in the day we hosted a number of representatives from the Salem Police Department, who were quite interested in our autocross events. Some of the officers rode shotgun with our autocrossers to get a feel for the course, but Sergeant Mark Pearson preferred to follow someone else through it, pursuit-style.

That's how Fred Beck pulled up to the starting line with Sergeant Pearson right behind him in his cruiser. They received the signal to go, and spurred on by the cheering crowd, Sergeant Pearson hit the lights and sirens as he chased Fred through the course in "hot pursuit!"

Fred and the Salem Police. (photo by Aimee Reveno)

Fred's highly modified 2002tii pulled away from the wallowing Ford Crown Victoria quite easily, and he found himself slowing down a few times to let the cruiser catch up. However, had Sergeant Pearson been driving Francis O'Connor's M3 Lightweight, the outcome would have been a different story altogether!

Officers Matt Norcross, Todd Nickerson, and Scott Muir also took a few runs on the course, while even more officers took rides and watched. It was a great time for everyone involved.

As for the regular participants, Dave Spragg once again took the BMW FTD with a run of 1:14.896, and was well over a second faster than his competition in Class E. The non-BMW FTD of 1:17.751 was set by Rob MacAlpine in his '91 Miata (there's those Mazdas again!)

There was plenty of time for fun runs, during which time some drivers chose to experiment a little with their cars. Alex Shchipkov tried out a pair of sticky race tires on the front of his '89 325i, while Justin Hughes and Eldon Brooks removed the rear sway bar from Justin's 320i. Their experiment was a success, explaining why BMW omitted the rear bar after the car's first year of production. Alex's car, however, became a tail-wide carnival ride. His ice racing experience was crucial just to keep the car from spinning! Fun runs are a great way to tune your car, try someone else's car, or just take a couple of extra practice laps.

Room for Improvement

Overall the autocross events are going great. We are filled to capacity with 75 drivers per event, the weather has been great, and everyone is having a lot of fun.

However, even though we have tried to be very clear about the importance of people showing up on time for their work assignments, we continue to have sporadic problems of people showing up late, or not at all. This means the event takes longer, and the coordinators have to spend time and energy rounding people up when they could be running cars instead.

Justin Hughes and Igor, his 320i. (photo by Dan Mull)

Part of the problem stems from the fact that the autocross has no set schedule. Run groups take 60 to 90 minutes, so it's hard to know what time you will work. The key is to pay attention to what is happening, be aware when your work group is next, and head over to the timing tent for your assignment when you see the previous run group is almost over.

Be sure to check the work assignments, posted at the tent, so you can know in advance what position you will work. These simple things will help the event flow much more smoothly.

October Events Confirmed

We have confirmed dates for the October autocrosses! Autocross 7 is on October 3 and Autocross 8 is on October 24. Preregistration for both events opens Monday, September 13.

In order to provide new BMW CCA members a fair chance to participate, there will be no special priority given to previous participants. Preregistration is simply first-come, first-served.

Everything ran smoothly at Autocross 3 and 4. (photo by Dan Mull)

Preregistration forms may be e-mailed, faxed, or postal-mailed to the Autocross Chair, Fred Beck. If you mail your form in, please use Fred's new address: 61 Crescent, Melrose, MA 02176. The new fax number is (781) 979-5686.

f you need a preregistration form and can't get it off the Chapter website, copy it from your June BIMMER or call Fred. The closing date for the October 3 event is September 30 at 5pm. The closing date for the October 24 event is October 21 at 5pm.

Season Standings

Let's look at how the competition for season trophies is shaping up! A participant must run at least four out of the eight events in order to qualify.

While only 20 people have qualified so far, 52 people out of 182 participants have three or more events. With just one more showing, all of these people will be eligible for a season trophy!

It looks bad, but Mel Hoagland got his stuck throttle cable fixed without a problem. (photo by Dan Mull)

Our BMW points leaders are Ron Hettich in Class B, Bill Cotton in C, George MacGown in D, Dave Spragg in E, and Brad Earl in F. Non-BMW points leaders are Billy Bacon in G, Rob MacAlpine in H, Jim MacNamara in I, Mel Hoagland in J, and Robert "Spitfire" Totten in K.

As an interesting factoid, 53% of participants overall drive BMWs, and 47% drive something else.

Coming Attractions

While we had hoped to put on an autocross for our Rhode Island members this fall, the site we had at Inskip BMW is currently unavailable due to construction. We will have an autocross there next Spring, for sure!

There's always plenty of action to watch. (photo by Dan Mull)

We do have an autocross "Hotshoe Shootout" in the works for you. This event will likely be held at Rockingham Park in early November, and will pit the top drivers from each class directly against each other, using a handicapping system to normalize the times. There will be two trophies, one each for BMW and non-BMW hotshoe of the year. The BMW handicap system will utilize performance points and run time data, while the non-BMW handicap system will be based on season run data only.

Stay tuned for more details!

September 1999 BIMMER

Favorite Road: Scituate Harbor and on to Hull by Graf Hilgenhurst

Performance Tech Session: Schneller Means Faster Photo Gallery by Ron Sisco

Behind the Wheel: Lots of Changes by Fred Beck

Under the Hood: Indy Oktoberfest by Greg Scott

Crushing The Cones: 2002tii Outruns Police Cruiser by Fred Beck and Justin Hughes

September 1999 New Members by Barry Tarr

Keys In Hand: Greetings by Maria Anggraeni

Red Lights and Chocolate Milk by Rob Healy

Eight Hours in a Kart: The First Annual 8 Hours of Loudon by Fred deNapoli

Performance Tech Session: Schneller Means Faster by Ron Sisco

The Ultimate Convoy: A Coupe With A View by Justin Hughes

The Ultimate Driving Experience by Justin Hughes

BMW of Peabody's New M Center by Greg Scott

BMW of Peabody's New M Center Photo Gallery by Ron Sisco

Dent Wizard Tech Session: Let the Wizard Help by Espen Frank

Boston Chapter Autocross Series: Autocross 4 Photo Gallery by Dan Mull

Boston Chapter Autocross Series: Autocross 4 Photo Gallery by Aimée Reveno

August 1999 Boston Chapter Board Meeting Minutes by Will Farnsworth

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