55th International Meeting of the BMW M1 Club e.V.
From Thursday, September 1 to Sunday, September 4, 2022, we were guests at the Grand Hotel les Endroits in CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds.
This meeting was organized and hosted by Trevor Vogt, his father Werner Vogt and the active support and assistance of the entire family.
We felt very comfortable, the passion and attention to detail over the entire four days were able to inspire us again and again and I would like to thank you once again and also on behalf of all participants for the extensive work and hospitality !
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Even the journey on Thursday afternoon in the small M1 convoy with Adrian over the Klus in Balsthal and across the Jura was scenically a poem and the beautiful late summer day also increased the anticipation of the upcoming meeting.
After check-in, we started handing out our personal equipment, road book and timetables for the day until Sunday.
At the aperitif on the beautiful hotel terrace, we were able to greet each other warmly again, this time without masks and social distancing.
the presentation and the course of the M1 meeting by the Vogt family.
Friday, September 2, 2022
We left on time at 09:00 for the Jura, only one BMW M1 didn’t want to start after the long journey from Bavaria. Our M1 Club doctor team, led by Axel Hagemann, recognized the cause in a flash and so the defective fuel pump was quickly replaced on the forecourt.
On the picturesque roads through the Jura, the Rodabook took us to the well-known watch manufacturer EDOX in Les Genevez. There we were warmly welcomed and familiarized with the history of EDOX watches.
The tour of the company, which was set up especially for us, allowed us to marvel at the assembly of the watches at close quarters and, finally, to select the fine watches for purchase in the EDOX showroom. With the extensive collection, including BMW motorsport models, it took a little longer than planned to decide on the right model.
From Les Genevez, our journey continued up to the 1609-metre-high Chasseral, where we had a well-earned lunch at the hotel of the same name.
The view from the Chasseral is impressive and extends over the Vosges and the Black Forest to the lakes of Biel, Neuchâtel and Murten and the 250 km long Alpine panorama.
On the well-maintained mountain road, we headed back downhill to the TCS center in Lignières, where we ran our M1 Challenge 2022 on the circuit. The aim here was to complete the uniformity test in two laps with the smallest possible difference between the two runs. A light rain shower, incidentally the only one in the four days, reduced the average speed.
Saturday, September 3, 2022
The road book took us from La-Chaux-de-Fonds to the asphalt mines in Travers. Divided into two groups and equipped with safety helmets, we were allowed to visit the asphalt mines of La Presta. Asphalt was mined in these mines until 1986 and it is very exciting and impressive to see how the miners had to earn their living back then.
Our lunch was of course the incomparable ham cooked in hot asphalt, which can only be enjoyed in this way in Travers!
After this culinary delicacy, the road book led us up to Môtiers-Le Soliat to the Creux du Van, a breathtakingly beautiful rocky basin, simply a marvel of nature. The Creux du Van is often referred to as the Grand Canyon of Switzerland and we could hardly tear ourselves away from this unique sight. After the short descent to the parked M1s, we headed back down into the valley and, led by Achim and his co-driver Marc, two white M1s drove back down into the valley on a mixture of hiking trail and dirt road. A group of hikers marveled in disbelief at the M1 in front, while the white M1 directly behind them was probably a BMW commercial and the group waved to us in total disbelief, but friendly nonetheless.
The crowning finale on Saturday was the gala dinner, which we were able to enjoy in a specially prepared room in the Grand Hotel Les Endroits.
One highlight followed the other, in addition to the delicacies served, there was also
the refreshing live music and the speech with special thanks to the organization of the Vogt family by our President, Dirk Friedrich.
The official thanks and farewell to our Honorary President, Wolfgang Melter, and our Honorary Treasurer, Werner Entenmann, for their work on the Board of the BMW M1 Club e.V. must be mentioned again at this point. Both of them have led and shaped our club life for many years, and as a token of gratitude they were each presented with an extraordinary M1 Procar model on a scale of approx. 1:5. Many thanks also to Axel, without his commitment and his M1 networking, these two models from the historic molds would definitely not exist.
The congratulations and prize-giving to the winners of the M1 Challenge in Lignières was another highlight of our Gala Dinner,
1st place Thomas Krauth / Georg Krauth with a difference of 0.19 seconds
2nd place Richard Parkinson / Kevin Hills with a difference of 0.41 seconds
3rd place Edward Walson with a difference of 0.42 seconds
The lucky winner was presented with a BMW Motorsport watch from EDOX, sponsored in equal parts by EDOX and Werner Vogt.
Thank you very much for this great prize!
We ended this unforgettable Saturday in a cozy get-together at the hotel bar around 11:59 am.
Sunday, September 4, 2022
As always, the conclusion of our meetings is the annual general meeting of the BMW M1 Club e.V.
The 9 items on the agenda were all discussed objectively and amicably, and the votes were also
votes were also carried out with majority and clear results.
At 10:24 a.m., our President, Dirk Friedrich, was able to close the Annual General Meeting and the participants once again bid a warm farewell and drove back home individually in their M1s.
Last but not least, the category especially worth mentioning
The longest journey was made by our member Richard Parkinson and his co-pilot Kevin Hills, who drove their M1 from England to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 14 hours.
Two members even traveled from the USA to our meeting in Switzerland: Edward Walson and Scott Hughes with his wife Fran Hughes brought the “American way of life” to our event with their participation.
Scott and Fran Hughes have brought a very special M1 with them to La Chaux-de-Fonds, at this point we can only reveal that it is the BMW M1 that was pictured and described in most newspapers and magazines around the world in 1978.
In due course, we will publish a separate article on this topic on our website http://www.bmw-m1-club.de/.
Outlook for the 56th International Annual Meeting 2023 of the BMW M1 Club e.V.
Save the Date: August 24 to 27, 2023
In the baroque residence town of Weilburg a.d. Lahn, our club member Jörg Schäfer will welcome us as organizer with an interesting and varied program.
