It's All About Kicking Cones!

What is an article about the 1999 Massachusetts BMW Retailers Autocross Series doing in the January 2000 BIMMER? Well, it all has to do with something called "deadlines".

Fred Beck and Justin Hughes (photo by Aimee Reveno)

Since the deadline for the November/December issue of the BIMMER was October 5, 1999, we now have the pleasure of bringing you the final autocross report for 1999 in January 2000. In addition to last year's news, we do have some previews of things to come for this coming autocross season.

Autocross 8 Report

The final autocross of the season took place on October 24. We had 75 participants on an excellent sunny and warm late October day. As the autocross has become more efficient over the season, everyone got 5 runs again! The competition was close, as Justin in his Saturn SC2 Type R lost 3rd place in Class G by 9/1000's of a second to Chris Bacon in a VW GTI Type R. Acura owners take note! Actually, this started as a joke Chris played on his brother Billy, who drives a real Integra Type R. A few others followed suit by adding Rs to their cars. We would like to thank everyone for their participation in the 1999 autocross series. We had a blast, and we know you did too!

Season Results and Statistics

A total of eight drivers participated in all 8 events in the autocross series. Fifty-four percent of all cars were BMWs, an all-time high for the Boston Chapter autocross series. Seventy drivers qualified for season trophies by attending four or more events, and 28 trophies were awarded to season class winners! Billy Bacon was the only person to take First Place in two classes. He accomplished this by a tire compound change mid-season, running in G and then H. Awards were given out at Fourth Quarter General Meeting at BMW of Peabody.

Garth Bernard was awarded a BMW mountain bike through a drawing among the top BMW autocross finishers. Garth also took 3rd in Class B in his '94 530iA. The Top Driver Shootout alluded to at the beginning of the season was indeed held and was quite successful (see the Shootout article this issue).

Vassilis Kontoglis powers his M Coupe through the kidney. (photo by Allison Feldhusen)

Novice Award

Congratulations to Michael Foulkes, winner of the Massachusetts BMW Retailer Autocross Series Most Improved Novice Award. Michael knocked a whopping 39.842 seconds off his average time!

The most improved novice is the driver with the greatest difference between maximum and minimum average best times over the autocross season. The single best run was used for event 1, as there were only two runs that day. Novices were required to place in a minimum of four events to be eligible for the award.

New for the Coming Season

Based on the interest from our autocrossers this year, we plan to hold an Autocross School using the McKamey School instructional program. The success of this event depends on your participation, so if you are interested please contact Dave Spragg at dave@spragg.com or (508) 647-4058 (eves).

Many other BMW CCA Chapters and the SCCA have a Women's Class as part of their autocross classifications system. We are open to having a Women's autocross class this year if there is sufficient interest. If you are a female autocrosser, or are a woman who is interested in getting involved in autocrossing, please contact Fred Beck at fbeck@boston-bmwcca.org with your interest.

We will likely hold the Year 2000 season autocross series at a new venue, though we may possibly be able to use Rockingham Park again this year after all. While having the same course all year has it advantages, this year we would like to run at least 2 different courses for variety.

An Autocross Committee is currently being formed from a number of volunteers. While Fred Beck will continue to be involved as Autocross Chair this year, he would like to get a life by delegating many (and there are many!) tasks to the Autocross Committee. Therefore Fred will be involved more as a facilitator than a one-man autocross show in order to give more people the opportunity to be directly involved in the club and its events.

Continuing Features

Robert Miller's M3 just looks good, on the course or off. (photo by Allison Feldhusen)

The Novice Program has been very successful in the past 2 years and will continue in the year 2000. The Miata Club joint agreement has worked well, and many BMW CCA members took advantage of this and ran the Miata Club events. We will continue the joint agreement next year.

Pre-registration was also very successful (Justin says it was "cool" -- he must be a child of the 70's!) and will be continued in the coming year's autocross series.

We would like to express our appreciation for our sponsors, the 6 members of the Massachusetts BMW Retailers Group, for helping make this event possible. We look forward to their sponsorship, and hopefully increased involvement (Warren, how about a new E46 M3 for autocross test drives?) in the coming year. Enjoy the Ice Racing series, and we'll see you again in late April!

The 1999 Boston Chapter Autocross Series is sponsored by the Massachusetts BMW Retailers. BMW Gallery Norwood (Norwood, MA) BMW of Peabody (Peabody, MA) Foreign Motors West (Natick, MA) Herb Chambers BMW (Boston, MA) Wagner BMW (Boylston, MA) Trans-Atlantic BMW (Hyannis, MA)

January 2000 BIMMER

Behind the Wheel: National Elections This Month by Fred Beck

Under the Hood: I Didn't Go Blind by Greg Scott

January 2000 New Members by Barry Tarr

Turns To Take: Stronger And Bigger! by Maria Anggraeni

Fourth Quarter General Meeting: An Awarding Experience by Justin Hughes

1999 Fourth Quarter General Meeting: An Awarding Experience Photo Gallery by Dan Mull and Ron Sisco

Sixth Annual Leaf Peeping Fun Rally: Therapy Behind The Wheel by John Sullivan

Sixth Annual Leaf Peeping Fun Rally: Therapy Behind The Wheel Photo Gallery by Dan Mull

Driving School at New Hampshire International Speedway: One's Passion For School by Richard M. Shrier

Driving School at Lime Rock Park: I'm Addicted To School by Justin Hughes

Driving School at ime Rock Park: I'm Addicted To School Photo Gallery by Ron Sisco

Charitable Contributions: Bucks for Bristol by Stan Jackson Jr.

Boston Chapter Autocross Series: It's All About Kicking Cones! by Fred Beck and Justin Hughes

Boston Chapter Autocross Series: Autocross 8 Photo Gallery by Allison Feldhusen

1999 Boston Chapter Autocross Series: Autocross Shootout by Fred Beck

November 1999 Boston Chapter Board Meeting Minutes by Will Farnsworth

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