Our drive is set for Saturday, August 7th, beginning at  10AM and finishing at about 2:00 pm.   The drive will end at Kovacs Motors in San Rafael, where we enjoy an after-drive picnic in celebration of Kovacs moving into their new facility in Sonoma.

2010 Lake Barryessa Poker Rally - August 28th, 2010

We're offering a fun day of driving, exploring, and camaraderie with fellow Audi drivers on a fun drive through the wine growing regions of Solano and Napa counties.  Drivers and their navigators will follow simple rally instructions that guide them along scenic and challenging roads of the Suisun Valley, lower Lake Berryessa, and the eastern Napa Valley.  The day promises fun, camaraderie, and opportunity to learn more about making our cars a bit more competent and special. 

The rules

Rally teams will collect playing cards along the way from designated locals and answer questions from their observations along the route. The team that is able to make the best poker hand and provide the best answers to the questions, is the winner.  Trophies will be awarded to the driver/navigator teams who place 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  Each car must have a driver and a navigator.  Teams without a co-driver/navigator will not be allowed.

Food

Lunch will be served along the way.

The route:

The start: Big O Tires, Benecia, CA.   (415 Military East, Benicia, CA 94510).  We'll be providing coffee, and breakfast pastries, and from 7AM - 8AM, you'll receive a tour of Big O's fantastic new facility in Benecia.  Big O will also perform a quick tech inspection of the cars.  They'll be checking our tire pressure and they will also check that all wheels are torque to the proper setting.

The end: The Rally will end in Calistoga, CA at approximately 3:00 PM.  At this time, the teams will be scored, trophies will be awarded and we enjoy interesting conversation with our fellow Audi enthusiasts. 

Big O Tires

The VIP Performance Group of Big O stores provide more than just tires from premium manufactures of Pirelli/Michelin/Yokohama, and quality wheels from HRE/BBS/Advan Racing/Enkie. Their well trained technicians can also install quality brakes from Hawk, Stoptech, Powerslot and others, Borla exhaust systems and performance suspension systems from Eibach.  In addition they can do high tech performance enhancing alignment for the track enthusiast using equipment that many dealers do not own. 

Big O is a major sponsor of the club, and provides considerable tire tech support at all of our track events.  This will be an opportunity to see what they can do for us by showing the type of services they have to offer and an opportunity to sign up for their VIP program discount if you have not already done so. 

For other questions

For more information, contact the event master Pat O’Neal at pat@audiclubgoldengatge.org . 

Join the Audi Club as we show support for Best Buddies, a charity dedicated to helping those with intellectual disabilities be more productive, and better assimilate with their peers and those around them.  We encourage all of our members to support the work that our chapter is doing with Best Buddies by registering to help us make this event a success by filling the many volunteer roles assigned to our club.

Audi Club's Commitment to charity
Once each year, our chapter selects a worthwhile charity that could benefit from our financial support.  For fiscal year 2009 & 2010, ACGG has selected Best Buddies as the charity that will be the recipient of our financial donation.  We look forward to many more years of working with Best Buddies to widen their umbrella of philanthropic support.  More details about Best Buddies can be found here.

Details of this event
We're looking for our members to support us in one of two different ways.  First, you can choose to participate in this event as a rider, or walker.  Riders and Walkers receive the club's help with the solicitation of donations for Best Buddies.  Each rider or walker must secure a minimum of $1250 in donations, and our club will provide as much support as possible to help each rider/walker to achieve their goal. 
If you're not a rider or a walker, then we ask that you help Best Buddies by volunteering for one of the various driving or administrative roles that are needed in order to make an event like this successful.  These roles include

1. Volunteer Guide Driver
2. Friendship Fleet Driver
3. Check-in Desk / Parking / Bike Rental

More details about these roles can be found on the ACGG Website by clicking here.

Our Goal
The Golden Gate Audi Club is looking to staff this event with as many as 50 volunteers to help Best Buddies succeed in making this a safe and fun event.  This year we are also partnering with the SOCAL chapter of the Audi Club with the hopes that we can significantly increase our charitable donation.  Last year, our chapter donated $4500 to Best Buddies, and we filled about 30 volunteer roles.  This year, our goal is to triple this donation amount, raising $13,500 in donations.

In order to volunteer to help at this event, it is not required that you donate to the charity, but we do ask that everyone that registers does what they can to help this worthy charity.  We've made it easy for you to volunteer; Just select the number of $25 donations that you would like to give to Best Buddies, and we'll donate it to Best Buddies on your behalf.  We'll also provide you with a receipt so that your donation is deductible.

Volunteers

If you would like to be a volunteer for this year's event, you'll need to register on our website, so that we know about you, and can provide you as much information as possible along the way, and also so that we can act on your behalf, and use our resources to ensure that you get chosen for the role that you volunteer for.  Once your registered on our site, you'll also need to register on the Best Buddies site (click here to register).

If you have questions...
If at any time during the enrollment process you have questions, please feel free to contact Larry Whitney (larry@audiclubgoldengate.org ) or  Cliff Musante (cliff@audiclubgoldengate.org ) and we'll be glad to assist you.

                           MARIN DRIVE-WARM UP TO AUDIFEST

Drive the beautiful Marin Headlands and Mt. Tamapalis on the Friday afternoon before Audifest 2010 takes place at Infineon Raceway. You do not have to be registered for Audifest to enjoy this beautiful drive and the company of other Audi owners. Joe Lucchio is planning a drive through some of the most scenic areas of Marin County. Stopping for a hosted lunch along the way and ending at the Audi Forum at Infineon Raceway about 3:00. If you haven't seen the forum and witnessed the buzz of activities around an Audi Club track event this is your opportunity.

The drive will start at the Courtyard Hotel in Novato at 9:30 with a sign in and registration. The Courtyard is the headquarters hotel for Audifest that starts Friday afternoon at Infineon Raceway. The drive will leave exactly at 10:00 for Marin County. Lunch will be provided and water supplied during the drive. $15 per person.

AUDI CLUB GOLDEN GATE INFINEON RACEWAY PERFORMANCE DRIVING SCHOOL

Welcome to the registration for the ACGG High Performance Driving School (HPDE).   The driving event will be held over two days on the track at Infineon Raceway. Over two miles of a challenging track with 12 turns and 300 feet elevation change. This track has been driven by the most famous names in Motorsports. Gurney, Gordon, Bell, Andretti, Probst, Earnhardt, Kanan, Ray, Patrick, and many many more. This is your chance to spend time on a world class track.

What is it?

It's a chance to drive your car in a fun, safe, learning environment, on one of the the most famous tracks in the country.  It's a chance to learn more about yourself, your driving skills, and your car. It's also a chance to meet and socialize with a diverse group of people who really enjoy their Audi Brand of cars.

If it is your first or tenth time to an Audi driving event you will have a blast. Novice drivers will spend the morning of the first day in a classroom session and practice driving exercises to learn vehicle dynamics. The class and exercises are designed to enhance your car control skills and knowledge of your car.

During all driving exercises students drive their own cars and have club instructors to assist them in developing better driving skills. This provides helpful input to ensure the students gets the most out of the experience, while maintaining a safe environment.

After the car control sessions the balance of the learning is on the track.  Run groups are established to allow students to be on track with other drivers of similar experience. Novice students always have an instructor in the car during on track sessions. Passing is allowed only on designated sections of the course, and under controlled circumstances, making for as safe of an environment as possible. Time spent on the track without side streets provides a great opportunity to safely learn advanced driving techniques and explore the capabilities of both car and driver.

Who are we?

ACGG is a chapter of the Audi Club of North America (ACNA), which is a 501c(3) non-profit organization with the purpose of educating its members in driver education, driver safety training, and education about the Audi brand. The ACGG serves the members in Northern California, NW Nevada, and Hawaii areas, but our events are open to anyone. To support the educational experience, ACGG offers events from new Audi introductions, Technical seminars, fun drives, Teen driving clinics, social events, tours, and High Performance Driver Education throughout the year. ACGG is able to take advantage of many Audi dealerships and well recognized private service centers around the geographic proximity to Northern California. Many of our sponsors offer dicounts to club members.

As a member of ACNA, you automatically become a member of ACGG if you live in the three states listed above. You will receive a quarterly magazine from ACNA, as well as frequent emails from ACGG to keep you up to date on all the scheduled events happening throughout the year. There is also a $500 Audi Club credit available on the purchase of any new Audi or CPO Audis, plus discounts from many of our fine sponsors.

This is an exciting, fun, and educational two days of learning on a world class race track. Learn your car and your cars capabilities in a controlled environment. Leave the weekend with new driving skills that will enhance your daily driving experience. Mingle with other Audi owners and club members for new friendships and lasting memories.

This 'fest' is more than the activities on track...Friday there will be an optional drive in Marin Headlands and/ Mt. Tamapalis. Joe Lucchio will be running this event starting at the Novato Courtyard at 9:30 Friday AM and ending at Infineon Raceway in time for tech and registration. Beautiful roads and a chance to enjoy your Audi with friends. Just check the box Marin Drive when you register. $15 per person including lunch. You can contact Joe@audiclubgoldengate.org for more details.

Also, we will have a golf outing for those who want to play on a beautiful course in Marin County. Plans are being made to play at Stone Tree Golf Club Friday morning. Mike Sremba has again offered to guide you around the course. Price is $95 per player and you can sign up when you register. Sarting times TBD and you will finish in time to get to tech at Infineon. Stone Tree is between Infineon and the Courtyard. This is a great way to start the Audifest weekend. If you have questions contact gordon@audiclubgoldengate.org.

AUDIFEST2010. Audi Club Golden Gate Performance Driving Event at Infineon Raceway. Oct 30-31, 2010. Go to http://www.audiclubgoldengate.org/ for information about the club, or click here for more details about this event.

The headquarters hotel for the event is the Marriott Courtyard in Novato. Reserve a room with Audi Club discounts at the Courtyard for only $89/night. The number is 800-228-9290 and the Audi code is Audi Club R8. This is the best hotel price ever for this event. In the event the Courtyard is sold out contact gordon@audiclubgoldengate.org  for other hotel options.

Audi Nationals are coming to Portland International Raceway Nov 4-5-6-7, and the Audi Club Golden Gate is planning a "welcome to the Nationals party" for all members of the Audi club Golden Gate. 6:00 Thursday evening November 4th in the Pearl District in Portland. This is a great way to get settled in and meet your fellow club members in a causal setting before getting down to the business and fun of a three day national event. Lots of food and beverages will be available.