After over 11 years of organising track events Jo is waving the chequered flag and taking a break.

Track events are the most complex events that car clubs can run and attention to detail may literally mean the difference between life and death. The paperwork is considerable, the demands of participants can be relentless and all the volunteers need to be organised.  The entire event needs to be controlled and coordinated.

For many of our track events Jo has been the admin and the race control, dealing with helmet hire, registrations on the day, allocating numbers, coordinating with timing, assigning marshal jobs, controlling the track access and session start/stop, watching for track infringements and disciplining those who transgress, chasing up those without numbers on their car (or the wrong numbers) and more. All while keeping everyone happy and a (safe and sensible) party atmosphere.

For all of this over a sustained period Motorsport Austarlia recognised Jo with a Service award in 2021.

Although we now have a fabulous team who take on much of this work on the day, there is still a lot that falls to Jo both in the days and weeks beforehand and on the day itself.

Understandably, all this has taken its toll and now is the time to step down – maybe not forever and, knowing Jo, not completely however much that may be the intention!

Thankfully Jo has built an amazing team and we are confident of a successor, so BMWDCM track days may not come to a halt (although the challenges of getting enough out on track given the costs and living expenses remains).

As a close observer of what happens on a track day (and pitifully small helper), on behalf of the club, thank you to Jo for creating an environment where so many people have had so much enjoyment at so little cost, and for encouraging and mentoring so many into the various roles involved in running a track day.

Read on for Jo’s announcement and some comments from others from the most recent track day event at Sandown on July 12, a combination of the Kaos Custom Bikes Come a Try day and Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship Supersprint.

Lawrence Glynn

Treasurer

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Yesterday we had some great experiences, ranging from entrants who had never driven before to a classic car getting a shake down for the first time on the track.

We hope you all had a great day and for the Come and Try group, we hope you learnt more about yourself, your car and driving in general. 

Our dedicated instructors worked very hard yesterday and we could not hold these days without them so I hope you enjoyed this experience. 

Sadly this will be my last event as Event Secretary as I am mentally and phyically exhausted and need to take a step back and hand over the baton. 

You will still see me around and I will be helping whoever takes on this role and I am sure the events will be even bigger and better than before. 

Watch out for updates on who will be taking over and I hope you give them the same respect and support as you have given me over the years. 

Jo Mawson

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Wow, what a fantastic day we were treated to. And whilst I was called to the Steward’s office with a rookie error (reversing into the garage, I admit it was nice to have an excuse to go up and take peek!

It’s such a great community to be part of, full of friendly, approachable people and keen to help one another. Including your good self!

I am sorry to hear that you are stepping back, at least for now, though I am sure anyone that has even an inkling of all that you are covering off can understand. I do hope to see you at upcoming events and I am grateful for all that you have done to make us feel welcome (and to make sure we are in the right place at the right time!).

Best wishes,

Mark Foxwell

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