Summit Point Drivers School

[Ruffan]

Anyone here going to the NJ BMWCCA Driver School at Summit Point, WV on July 25/26th?

Does anyone here belong to the NJ, NY or Patroon chapters? I'm a NY member and wondering if other 1ers ever go to any track events.

I'd love to see another 135i show up at Summit Point so I don't feel so bad about smoking all those E90 M3's.

[white911]

I bring my one out from time to time. If you are interested we have space in our all but our beginner run groups for our July 11/12 event. $260.00/$150.00 (Students/Instructors) I had my 135I out this past weekend and there were at least 5 M3s at our event.

Lots of space in our Watkins Glen event, June 26-28 -- most of the boy racers are headed to our Zone 2 Club Race at VIR.

[Ruffan]

so there are no other 1's (on this forum at least) headed to Summit Point in two weeks? Looks like there will be plenty of e90 M3's there, and I can't wait to see how the little monster performs against those guys on a real road course.

[BrokenVert]

What do the driver's schools entail? I'm going to the NY Chapter Auto-X on August 1st. I got told that I don't need to go to a driver's school before hand. Is that a bad idea?

[dereknmmi]

how do you sign up for the event? do you have to be a bmwcca member? i live about an hour from the track and i have been wanting to do the summit point racing school for some time.

[Ruffan]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

What do the driver's schools entail? I'm going to the NY Chapter Auto-X on August 1st. I got told that I don't need to go to a driver's school before hand. Is that a bad idea?

You don't need to go to a driving school prior to autocrossing. Autocross is in a big parking lot with cones and you'll be the only car on the "course" at any one time, so there is little risk of damage or endangering yourself.

The driving schools entail some classroom time with a certified instructor, as well as 4-5 sessions on a real track in your car, with a driving instructor (just a very experienced driver) riding along and guiding you to help improve your driving skills and track awareness. The driving schools are done in groups based on skill/experience with multiple cars on track at any time. It is not a racing event, and passing is only allowed in designated areas, with permission from the car that you're passing. With that said, you get the opportunity to run hot laps just like in a race. Here is the overview page from the NJ chapter (has a better website than NY) http://www.njbmwcca.org/event_info/driver_school.php

Originally Posted by dereknmmi

how do you sign up for the event? do you have to be a bmwcca member? i live about an hour from the track and i have been wanting to do the summit point racing school for some time.

I believe that you do have to be a BMW CCA member to sign up. You can sign up through the NJ chapter (link above) as this is their event. Being a member is absolutely worthwhile as it only costs $40 a year. You'll get the monthly Roundel magazine and access to all BMWCCA events (there is an additional cost for events), no matter which chapter is running them (I'm a NY member, but doing events with NJ) There is a wonderful website (http://www.motorsportreg.com/) where you can search for driving schools, autocrosses and other events, and sign up for them.

Summit Point will be my 3rd real track experience in the 1 series, and I highly recommend that every enthusiast take their car out to the track. You can learn a ton about the car and it's limits and learn things that will help you be a better & safer driver on the street, but by far the best reason is that it is a shit ton of fun.