One of the best ways to experience the performance of the full range of current BMW M vehicles is to attend one of BMW's M Track Days, held at tracks around the country. You can get behind the wheel of everything from an M2 to an X6 M—all with professional instruction from BMW Performance Center instructors—for the bargain price of just $250! Thanks to Michelin, we were able to attend the first one at Monticello Motor Club.
.jpg)
Unfortunately—depending on how you look at it—we woke up to a cold, windy, rainy day that only increased as we ventured out into the foothills of New York to the Monticello Motor Club. As we pulled into this premier facility, we could tell why BMW has recently become one of their corporate sponsors as this place is definitely one of the nicest tracks we've seen.
We were greeted at the clubhouse and checked into our group. Thankfully a light breakfast and some much-needed coffee was waiting for us! As we mingled with other attendees, we noticed that even though the weather wasn't ideal, the room was getting full. It would appear that a little rain is not keeping the M fans away!
.jpg)
Once we had all finished our cups of coffee, BMW Chief Driving Instructor Matt Mullins corralled us into the briefing room to go over some driving basics. Since this was the first track experience for some people, he covered many important topics including how to utilize the different driving modes and traction controls (which we had to leave completely on due to the rain), proper seating position, and the racing line. To finish the intro, Matt talked about the confidence he has in the Michelin Pilot Super Sport—which is equipped on all the BMW M cars—in nasty condition like this.
Just before anyone could get too antsy, we were sent outside to get grouped up and into the waiting fleet of BMW’s latest M cars. Our group would be in the M2 first and heading to the road course. So I slid into one of the beautiful Long Beach Blue Metallic M2’s—which was actually my first time behind the wheel of one!—fired it up, and followed the line of other M2s out to the road course.
.jpg)
We were lucky that it was just sprinkling as we went out for our recon laps, thus as we started to up the pace, the track was actually slightly dry. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, as the sky opened up and it started to really pour. This made the track fun to learn though as there were some good transitions and tight corners which allowed for a little bit of playing with the baby M!
As we finished up our session in the M2, we were told we would be staying at the road course, yet now we would be driving M3s. Kind of cool to drive these two back-to-back plus a step up in performance for round two! Therefore we were already familiar with the track and could take advantage of the extra power of the S55 engine. It was a shame though that we couldn’t really see much from the spray due to the lead-follow configuration, so we didn’t get to push as hard as we would have liked.
.jpg)
One thing to point out was that even though the track was really wet, the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires were able to lay down the power! While in the M2, I personally didn’t have any problem with traction and was able to push it fairly hard—but I’m a fairly smooth driver. The M3 was a different monster though and you really had to watch your inputs and stay off the paint, but everyone was amazed at the level of traction they had considering the conditions were so bad!
After we were done at the road course, it was time to truly represent the BMW CCA as we headed over to the timed autocross course! This had to be one of the tightest, most over-powered autocrosses ever as we were dueling it out on the Monticello Motor Club’s tiny kart track in M4s.
.jpg)
The instructor led us around stopping at critical points and describing what to do to maximize our time. Then we got two flying laps where the times counted. No warm up. No practice. Everything on the line!
With full traction control engaged, the key in these conditions is to be smooth on your transitions so the computers don’t reel you back. On my first run, I was over cautious on the final corner and stop box and laid down an okay time. The second time around I got a little too aggressive on the hairpin, the traction control kicked in, and I lost a little bit of time. Both runs were close in time and I was told they were quick, but I just had a feeling they wouldn’t hold throughout the day.
Next up was the drag race—this was going to be fun!
They had set up the drag strip on one of the straights for the full course. It was downhill and had a stop box at the end. The lineup of cars was all the vehicles that people don’t suspect at a stop light: X5 M, X6 M, and the M6 Gran Coupe. We started in the M6 and had some fun swapping wins. We then moved on to the X6 M, and finished with the X5 M. Every time I drive the X5 M, it reminds me that you truly can have your cake and eat it too. And I did not want to give this one back!
.jpg)
Once we had driven all of these beasts of cars, we made our way back into the club house for some lunch. It’s surprising how hungry you are after a half-day on track, everything from the salad to the prime rib looked amazing and made it onto my plate—including a good helping of desserts! Just as we were finishing up lunch, Matt Mullins returned to tell us who was victorious in the autocross competition.
In typical race fashion he started with third-place, and since I knew I made a couple mistakes, I was excited to hear my name called! I had represented the Club well and put us on the podium. And after hearing the times, that mistake definitely cost me the victory. Guess I will just have to come back for another one!—Nate Risch
.jpg)
For more information on the BMW M Track Days, visit mtrackdays.bmwusa.com.
2017 M Track Days Schedule
- Homestead-Miami Speedway — Homestead, Florida — July 9–16
- Circuit of the Americas — Austin, Texas — July 26–August 2
- The Ridge Motorsports Park — Shelton, Washington — September 19–26
- The Thermal Club — Thermal, California — September 29–October 6
