Spaten sponsorship livens up a Bavarian party
Let’s see: Mix Bavarian cars with a terrific driving venue, add 600 passionate BMW CCA members, and top it off with Bavarian beer for the evening events, and what do you have? Another successful BMW CCA Oktoberfest!
This year’s event, centered around Alabama’s Barber Mostorsports Park and hosted by the Ross Bridge Island Golf Resort, was only slightly dampened by the weather, with the Sonax Concours d’Elegance mostly chilly and overcast on Tuesday. Wednesday’s Odometer Gears TSD Rally took rallyists along beautiful back roads to the International Racing Hall of Fame at Talladega, with a Dinan Motorsport reception in the Barber Vintage and Motorcycle Museum.
Thursday’s Bridgestone Autocross was briefly interrupted by a torrential downpour, but the weather stayed bright and clear for most of Oktoberfest’s driving schools, a Club Racing school, the Michelin Gymkhana, and the Tire Rack BMW CCA Club races. The Liberty Mutual Casino Night saw members throwing money around like it was play money—well, it was play money, of course—and every night there was stein after stein of Spaten Lager, Spaten Weißbier, Spaten everything to properly lubricate a Bavarian event.
At Friday’s BMW NA-sponsored awards banquet, the Houston Chapter’s Tony Lee was awarded the top prize for overall Oktoberfest competition, while the Long-Distance Award went to LA Chapter members Deborah and Paul Koreneff, who drove their 1997 M3 to Birmingham from Los Alamitos, California—a distance of 2,045 miles.
You may view all the results of Oktoberfest competition here.—Satch Carlson
