BMW and Nurburgring Race Track Experience!

AWESOME!!!

That is how I would describe my recent trip out to Germany, courtesy of Vine's BMW in Guildford!

There were about 50 of us (mostly men unsurprisingly) and we flew from Farnborough airport on a specially chartered plane and from the moment we arrived the hospitality was impressive - plenty of attention, drinks and food!

After a short flight to Koln airport we transferred to our hotel directly overlooking the Nurburgring and once we had settled into our rooms, we made our way to the bar.

The first evening was made up of presentations, a fantastic evening meal, and the opportunity to see another unveiling of the M3, after which, we went back to the bar to finish the evening! By this time, I had made a number of new friends (Ian, on the left above - was my co pilot in the car, Andrew, - a very funny man, Gary, next to Ian above - brilliant at keeping me organised, Steve and Sam - real whizzes on the facts & figures of the old and new M3's, Adrian - our US friend, and Dave and Colin - a couple of 'Likely Lads'! They all made my experience what it was - memorable.

I finally went to bed about 1pm local time, as we had to be up, breakfasted, and ready for action at 8am!

...and this is where the adventure really began.

We were split into teams with 2 people to each car (instructors drove the red cars). The track was divided up into sections so that we experienced different elements of driving such as driving through a slalom of cones, experiencing the ability of how the M3 can react in the event of emergency obstacles in the road (the most scary for me), chicane handling and competitive cornering, before ending off with race track experience!

The first thing we did as a team was the slalom of cones - which was a real challenge! We had to drive at speed through pairs of cones that had been set at different distances from each other, some of which really put the car through it's paces, including tight cornering. It was very challenging, and for me I was doing this whilst learning how to drive a left had car, and a BMW to boot! At one point, I managed to slide off the track onto the grass, and it took some moments to regain control! I have to say it was the most thrilling experience I have ever had - and was disappointed that just as I was getting the hang of it, we had to move on!

By the end of the day, we finally got to do the one thing all of us were really looking forward to doing - drive around the track at speed. This was not the full track, just about a mile and a half of it, and all the same it was fab! I was even more lucky as my co-driver had had to go off somewhere, so I got extra driving in, much to the other guys disgust!

It really was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life and one I would love to do again - thank you Vine's BMW!

Pause for Thought

I like to think about my experiences in terms of the lessons we can learn in life - and for me, this experience was no different.

You can see in one of the photos, that the weather was really poor - it rained buckets all day. As I mentioned, I lost control of the car on a bend and went sliding off onto the grass (my co-driver Ian seemed to think it was great - and was very level headed, telling me what to do). Whilst I believe that I didn't panic, it was a moment that made me think - I really had no idea how to correct the car! Fortunately, being a race track, and through the careful planning of the instructors, I was in no danger - however, back at home, it is another story...

For a long time, I have known that I have a tendency to drive too fast, and yet the experiences on the race track made me recognise my limitations - that if I lost control of a car I would not necessarily know what to do and if I did, would I react quickly enough? It's food for thought.

Interestingly, one of the guys (Andrew) on my team, runs a company that provides the university degree of driving tests for young people to encourage safer and more responsible driving. I was very impressed with what they are aiming to achieve - and believe that this maybe the way to go - check them out!

Launch of new BMW and Stunning New Premises at Vines of Guildford

I went along with my friend Karen, to the Vines BMW showroom in Guildford on Friday night (7th September).

The event was about showing off, (what turned out to be) the stunning new premises and the launch of their latest model!

I went along because I love cars, particularly German ones, and again it is always a good opportunity to meet new people ...and as it turned out, I met quite a few!!

We spent the evening looking at the cars on display and talking to lots of people.

The BMW staff were all helping out on the night, and those I spoke with were very friendly and attentive serving drinks and canapes.

I got speaking to one of them, a lady called Cathy Hartley, and I was very impressed by what she had to say! She was talking about how everyone working there was really friendly and that some of the staff had been there for years - which is surely a testament to the management team at Vines!!

I can only speak from experience myself, but this seems to be something that the majority of companies would love to achieve!

I spoke with Mark Hollands (the Dealer Principle, and above in the photo with Karen), about what Cathy had said, and he reinforced the team spirit that existed. (Interestingly, he also had a major say in the way the new showroom was designed - clearly a man of taste too!)

I remember some years back someone told me a story about a CEO in charge of a large corporate and when asked who he looked after most - his shareholders or his clients, he replied 'Niether. I look after my staff. If I look after my staff they will look after my clients, and if my clients are looked after, they will make sure my shareholders are happy'. This has always stuck with me (I am afraid I cannot attribute this, as I didn't catch the name of the CEO), a philosophy Mark seems to believe too.

For the ultimate customer buying experience, and follow up customer care, I think the team at Vines in Guildford would be hard to beat!

After that Karen and I wandered around the show room, identified the car I would like at some point in the future (that's me and Karen sitting in it!)before hearing Mark announce the prize draw. As we became very quiet and waited for him to make the announcement - I was stunned to find out it was me!!! How fab was that?!

I won 2 days in Germany at the Nurburgring driving the thrilling new BMW M3 Coupe (much to the envy of a number of my friends)!!

I was still in a state of shock when I spoke with Sara Moule (who drives the car I am after)and Ashley Andrew (Regional Sales & Marketing Manager & National Sales Manager respectively), as they told me what to expect.!

A great evening methinks!!