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Meeting Place: Patrick MINI
Meeting Time: August 13th 6:00pm
I'm pleased to announce another upcoming Chicago MINI Motoring Club event. We will meet at Patrick MINI on the 13th of August at 6:00pm where legendary MINI racing veteran Phil Wicks will discuss his Midwest Driver Track Days at Gateway International Raceway. Phil will walk through all the details of the Track Days event plus (if we’re lucky) talk about his long racing career and what it was like to drive in the original Italian Job as a stunt man. The Track Days event will take place on August 30th at Gateway International Raceway just northeast of St. Louis. Chicago MINI Club Members will be offered a discount of 20%. So the Novice Class – usually $275 – is $220 and the Intermediate and Expert classes – usually $175 – is $140. Again this discount is only available to full members of the club.
This meeting will also be a great way to come out and see some of us for the first time if you couldn’t make it to the July Rally earlier this month. All are welcome to attend and we will be accepting membership applications at the meeting. Please email me at gabe@chicagominiclub.com if you plan on attending this event.
Also a big thanks go out to Patrick MINI for letting us use their facilities for this meeting – thanks Kevin! Of course this would be a great time to take advantage of our club discount at Patrick and pick up some of that fantastic MINI.
<p>I will be there.. See y'all then</p>
<p>This Track Day sounds like an opportunity to really drive my MCS like I want, but legally. I know Gateway doesn't have a road course. Does anyone know anything about this Track Day? Will we be driving around cones like SCCA? Tons of questions!</p>
<p>Actually I have been told there is a roadcourse there.</p>
<p>Now that really sounds good. Gabe, do you know anything more about the Track Day? Like, one on one teaching; need helmets; how long of a day? Sorry, like I said…lots-o-questions!</p>
<p>It would probably be best to defer to Phil until the meeting to have all those details answered. One thing I do know is that everyone I've talked to that has participated as had an amazing time.</p>
<p>I just received a call from Phil Wicks. He answered a few of my questions. They do provide helmets, but their inventory is limited. So,if you borrow someones motorcycle helmet, you'd be okay. Long pants only (no shorts) for safety reasons. Cotton is okay, such as jeans. He generally wants us to preregister at least two weeks in advance to insure a slot, especially to keep with other MINI's. But we can register at the meeting on the 13th. He was kind enough to hold a slot for me just by our conversation. If you decide to send in the application, note that your with a MINI Club and deduct the discount.
I can't wait. I've watched my brother do a couple BMW driving schools and they are incredible. For those of you who really enjoy driving hard, this is the way to go.</p>
<p>Sounds like it'll be an amazing time for everyone. Unfortunately due to some long standing family obligations I'm not going to be able to make it. However I definately be at the Baseball event the weekend after on the 7th. Of course I'll also be at the meeting next week at Patrick MINI :)</p>
<p>I tried emailing you about this event, asking if it was okay for me, a SoCal MINI owner, to attend.
Is it okay?</p>
<p>Thanks to all who came out to this event. It was a great time.</p>
<p>The meeting was fantastic. We met with Phil Wicks and he shared with us experiences from the earliest days of the MINI up until today. He talked about the school at great length including his plans for future events. As soon as details are finalized you'll here about them here and the new <a href="http://chicagominiclub.com">chicagominiclub.com</a> website.</p>
<p>We also had another unexpected visitor – Peter Witt, MINIUSA Brand Manager for the central region. It was great to hear about MINI's plan's for the future and see some of the corporate enthusasim first hand. Peter also handled some tough question regarding the current MCO legal situation very well – I for one, have to thank him for that. He certainly didn't shy away from any topic. </p>
<p>Needless to say it was a fantastic meeting and allhad a great time. Really it's hard to imagine a first meeting going much better.</p>
<p>What a great meeting. Listening to Phil Wicks speak about his experiences with the Mini, and his racing career in general was just awesome. Especially, dicing things up with Jimmy Clark, Jackie Stewart, etc. For a Formula One/MINI fan, things just don't get much better than that!</p>
<p>As for my first Chicago MINI Motoring Club event…..what a great time. Looking forward to a lot more MINI meetings! Thanks to anyone and everyone who put that together, and really good to see (and meet) those who were out there. Cheers!</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for making me feel welcome even though I'm from across the continent.</p>
<p>Good luck in the further formation of your organization. I can tell by the enthusiasm that it's going to be great!</p>
<p>The meeting was great!
Wish there were more females there though, I know you're out there female Mini enthusiasts!! : )</p>
<p>Phil had some great experiences. I can't wait to look up his website and find out more!</p>
<p>See you all for the baseball rally!<br />
Gabe, did you find out anything more about the Blackhawk Farms event?</p>
<p>Giddyup!</p>
<p>As a 50th birthday present to me, my wife has signed me up for the trackday event! Looks like I'm going t St.Louis! I'm speechless!
Ron.</p>
<p>The website for Phil Wicks is <a href="http://www.midwestdriver.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.midwestdriver.com/</a>
and and here is a map of Gateway International <a href="http://www.gatewayraceway.com/mapOval.html" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.gatewayraceway.com/mapOval.html</a> for the lucky handfull of you that are going down there.</p>