October 4 th through the 7 th were the dates as the ACNA Golden Gate chapter hosted the Frank Beddor National gathering at Infineon (Sears Point) racetrack outside of Sonoma, CA.  This “National” event had the potential to be the largest gathering that the GG chapter had ever hosted, so the chapter prepared for the event with the intention to make the event fun for everyone, even when they weren’t on the track.

Of those events taking place off of the track, Mike Stremba hosted a gorgeous day of golfing at the prestigious Stone Tree golf course outside of Belvedere and Ross in Marin County; Larry Whitney hosted both a Napa and Sonoma county drive, and certainly one of the best winery tours that one could ever receive for $65.  Nineteen members enjoyed a freshly prepared lunch, featuring homemade proscuitto and homegrown produce, on the picnic tables next to the Bocce court at the Larson Family Winery in Sonoma.  Simultaneously, Christina Ibanez, in her beautiful new RED S4, led a well-attended coastal tour to Bolinas Bay. And at trackside Saturday afternoon, eMotive provided us with a several brand new Audi S5 cars to test drive. 

 

Across all of these events, one thing came across consistently: Audi Club Members, and Audi folks are just good people.  One of the aspects of these events that I have come to really enjoy is the opportunity to meet new enthusiasts, and to forge new friendships.  For this event, Larry Whitney and I had a chance to meet Dawn & Bill Darling, and Dan from Colorado, and Steve Case from Illinois.  We spent most of Thursday with these 4 eager wine tasters as we drove through the hills of Calistoga, Napa and Sonoma.  The drive, and wine tasting was a great deal of fun, and I feel lucky to have made the acquaintance of a few more interesting, devoted and kind folks from other chapters.  I look forward to seeing them again in the future.

 

It certainly was fun to take advantage of the events scheduled before the weekend’s activities began, but anticipation of a great driving event was visible on everyone’s faces, and it seemed to just hang in the air as you walked through the check-in center at the beautiful Sheraton Hotel on Friday evening.  You just got the feeling that this was going to be an event to remember.

 

Because this was the Nationals event, we were able to meet several members of the Board of Directors, and to also host the annual members meeting early that Friday evening at the hotel.  I was working at the registration check-in counter, selling raffle tickets and giving out shirts during this meeting, but the report I received was that the meeting was a great way to understand the objectives of our club. Our President, Dean Treadway and his officers, laid out a number of initiatives that are to be undertaken to improve, and to benefit our membership within the chapters. Members that have been nominated for election to the board were listed, as elections are soon.

 

For the weekend driving events, student drivers and significant others arrived from all across the US.  Prior events held by the GG chapter at Infineon draw, on average, about 110 - 120 students and instructors.  This event had over 150 registered students and instructors, and there was a waiting list for those that were not fortunate enough, or quick enough to secure one of the coveted reservations.

This was my 8 th event with the Audi Club and it was great to see all of the usual driver and instructor participants.  We were fortunate to have both Larry Boyer (National Board Chief Instructor) and Terry Geiser (GG Chapter Chief Instructor) present at this event.  Between these two gentlemen, we had an immense history of expertise to draw on, and arguably two of the best instructors and coaches that the Audi Club has ever seen.  These folks are not only good instructors, but they have a nice way of paying close attention to every student’s needs, with well constructed and useful answers to the students questions.  We were truly lucky to have both of them with us this weekend.

 

Saturday morning delivered cool air, with no chance of rain.  For anyone that has been to these events (and especially if you have a turbo-charged car) this spells HORSEPOWER, and possibilities.  This combination of environmental factors allows students and instructors alike to focus on the two most important factors necessary to improve your driving skills.  They are of course: smoothness and consistency. In the case of this large event, the organizers were smooth too.  Six run-groups rotated with clockwork-like efficiency, with the X, Y, C and D groups afforded about 3:20 of drive time, distributed across 8 sessions.  I believe that the event planners deserve special recognition for creating a schedule that provided so much track time, for so many people.

For this event, we had our largest group of first-time event participants, which is a good indicator of growth, and enthusiasm.  For those of you who came to meet these new initiates, I recommend that you give them a call and check-in with them.  This chapter wants to continually improve the experience of our members and one great way to improve is to receive your feedback for future events.

 

Sponsorship was abundant at the event, and nowhere was this more evident than during the auction on Saturday evening.  The chapter received a huge number of donations from a number of great sponsors, and it should be said that there are a number of sponsors that consistently help with logistics, and funding.  I would be remiss if I did not mention a several of them.  Griffin Motorwerke, & Carlsen Audi were the title sponsors of the event, but Toyo Tires, Neuspeed, Eurospec, and APR supported us at the Platinum level.  O34 Motorsports, 2Bennet Audimotive, and AVS supported us through Technical Inspection, and in the pits with expertise, compressed air, and a host of other useful services.

 

So, how much fun did we all have?  I guess it wouldn’t be fair to speak for everyone, but I can certainly say that this event was, for me, the best Audi Club event that I have attended to date.  The combination of the higher excitement level, the large number of friends and drivers, the complexity of the track, the proximity to all of those beautiful R8 and S5 cars, and the feeling that my car seemed to be guided by the hands of Hans Stuck, gave me that constant grin that is indicative of a great event.

 

I look forward to the next Driver’s Education events at Mazda Raceway (Laguna Seca) and Thunderhill (an SCCA track), scheduled for early next year (www.audiclubgoldengate.org).  Let’s capitalize on this very successful event, and see if we can’t set an attendance record for these next two events.