Tuesday, July 31, 2018

BMW activating the non-compete clause for the new Audi CEO

Earlier this week, Audi confirmed that it plans to hire the BMW procurement director Markus Duesmann to occupy the vacant post at the head of the VW subsidiary. German automakers have an industry-standard blocking clause, which could have prevented him from immediately working for a direct competitor, and apparently, that clause will be activated by BMW.

As the FAZ reports , Duesmann was released immediately by BMW after the announcement of his intentions and is therefore is no longer part of the Board of BMW AG.

In order to curb the transfer of secrets, Duesmann may not join Audi without the release of his previous employer which is a direct competitor. According to FAZ, BMW could delay the start at VW or Audi until October 2020 – however, it is unclear whether BMW will insist on such a long lock or whether the companies may be able to agree financially on an earlier start.

However, BMW does not have a lot of reason to be very accommodating considering that the current VW CEO Herbert Diess moved to Wolfsburg from BMW just a few years ago. This would also give a warning to other directors: A quick and easy change to direct competition is not an option.

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Top field for Mullingar Scratch Trophy

 South of Ireland champion Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) is heading for Mullingar from August 11-12. Picture by Pat Cashman

South of Ireland champion Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) is heading for Mullingar from August 11-12. Picture by Pat Cashman

Newly-minted South of Ireland champion Caolan Rafferty will tee it up in the Sherry Fitzgerald – Davitt & Davitt sponsored Mullingar Scratch Trophy from August 11-12.

The Dundalk man (25) will be joined in the prestigious 72-hole event by runner-up Rowan Lester from Hermitage, West of Ireland champion Robert Brazill from Naas, North of Ireland champion Ian Lynch from Rosslare and former Irish Amateur Open and East of Ireland champion Colm Campbell from Warrenpoint, who is returning from a long injury layoff.

GUI senior panellists Jamie Fletcher (Warrenpoint), Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas), James Sugrue (Mallow) and Tiarnan McLarnon (Massereene) are also in the field hoping to join an illustrious list of past winners that includes Des Smyth, Philip Walton, Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke, Pádraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

Lester will be aiming to go one better than last year when he tied for second with Portmarnock’s Jack Pierse behind Galway’s Ronan Mullarney

Pierse is currently out of action with a hip injury while Mullarney is on club duty for Galway in the Connacht finals of the AIG Cups and Shields at Roscommon.

Sherry Fitzgerald – Davitt & Davitt Mullingar Scratch Trophy 2018

Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th August

Round 1/Round 2

  1. 06.30/11.30 Billy McGarry (Birr), Des Morgan (Carton House), John Swarbrigg (Mullingar)
  2. 06.40/11.40 Matthew Grehan (Tullamore), Ryan O’Doherty (Enniscrone), Paul Burke (Mullingar)
  3. 06.50/11.50 Evan Farrell (Ardee), Thomas Plunkett (Mullingar), Christopher Rabbette (Esker Hills)
  4. 07.00/12.00 Colin Cunningham (Carton House), Eanna Griffin (Waterford), Harry Gillivan (Westport)
  5. 07.10/12.10 Keith Egan (Carton House), Owen Crooks (Bushfoot), Gareth Mann (Tullamore)
  6. 07.20/12.20 Jack Walsh (Castle), Shane McDermott (Cavan), Ross McKinley (Mullingar)
  7. 07.30/12.30 Shane Murtagh (Mullingar), Marcus Looby (Greystones), David Joyce (Powerscourt)
  8. 07.40/12.40 Thomas Mulligan (Laytown & Bettystown), Mark Kelly (Mullingar), Fergal Cleary (The Island)
  9. 07.50/12.50 Paul O’Hara (Kilkenny), Mark Mullen (Rosslare), Gareth Garr (Mullingar)
  10. 08.00/13.00 Max Kennedy (Royal Dublin), Gerard Dunne (Co. Louth), Robbie Cannon (Balbriggan)
  11. 08.10/13.10 Marc Nolan (Dun Laoghaire), Robert Moran (Castle), Jack McDonnell (Forrest Little)
  12. 08.20/13.20 Paraic Connolly (Killeen Castle), Colin Woodroofe (Dun Laoghaire), Richard Knightly (Royal Dublin)
  13. 08.30/13.30 Karl McCormack (Portarlington), Alan Fahy (Dun Laoghaire), Mark Boucher (Carton House)
  14. 08.40/13.40 Jake Whelan (Newlands), Paul Coghlan (Castleknock), Keith Murphy (Dun Laoghaire)
  15. 08.50/13.50 Jamie Fletcher (Warrenpoint), Rowan Lester (Hermitage), Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas)
  16. 09.00/14.00 Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint), James Sugrue (Mallow), Robert Brazill (Naas)
  17. 09.10/14.10 Tiarnan McLarnon (Massereene), Andrew McCormack (Castletroy), Ryan McKinstry (Cairndhu)
  18. 09.20/14.20 Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), Marc McKinstry (Cairndhu), Adam Smith (Mullingar)
  19. 09.30/14.30 Geoff Lenehan (Portmarnock), Daniel Holland (Castle), Paul O’Hanlon (Carton House)
  20. 09.40/14.40 James Fox (Portmarnock), Jake Hapgood (Southerndown), Gary Collins (Rosslare)
  21. 09.50/14.50 Rory Williamson (Holywood), Shaun Carter (Royal Dublin), Jordan Hood (Galgorm Castle)
  22. 10.00/15.00 Hugh Foley (Royal Dublin), Ross Dutton (Tandragee), Jack Hearn (Tramore)
  23. 10.10/15.10 Rhys Clarke (Wexford), David Reddan (Nenagh), John Hickey (Cork)
  24. 10.20/15.20 Paul Murphy (Rosslare), Reece Black (Hilton Templepatrick), Matthew McClean (Malone)
  25. 10.30/15.30 Cathal Butler (Kinsale), Hugh O’Hara (Fortwilliam), Jamie Knipe (Royal Portrush)
  26. 10.40/15.40 Richard McCrudden (Royal Portrush), Anthony McDaid (Palmerstown), Aaron Grant (Dundalk)
  27. 10.50/15.50 Stefan Greenberg (Tandragee), Ian Lynch (Rosslare), Jason Rackard (Enniscorthy)
  28. 11.00/15.00 Jonathan Gourley (Shandon Park), Kieran Lynch (Skibbereen), Colum Kenny (Portmarnock)
  29. 11.10/16.10 Jake Rowe (Tandragee), Shane McGlynn (Portmarnock), Jack Blake (The Island)
  30. 11.20/16.20 Andrew Hickey (Ballyhaunis), Eoin J O’Brien (Clontarf), Darragh Flynn (Carton House)


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Switzerland of America: My Couple of Days with MINI Takes the States

Two years ago, I had undertaken a three day, two-drive journey with MINI Takes the States. MINI let me tag along from Charlotte, North Carolina to Richmond, Virginia to Baltimore Maryland. It was a fun, albeit exhausting experience that I actually had thought was enough for me. I thought it was fun but decided it would be my last. Until I did it again.

Just a couple of weeks ago, MINI Takes the States 2018 concluded in Keystone Colorado. This time, MTTS was different. Rather than have the same group of people drive from one end of the country to another, two groups started out on either side of the country and met in the middle. So there was a western route and an eastern route.

Thankfully, I was given the choice of which route I wanted to take, which cities I wanted to drive to and from and how long I wanted to stay. Being that I’m from the east coast and have seen much of it, plus there weren’t a ton of scenic areas on the eastern route, I decided to do the western route. Now, I’m not very experienced with the west coast, so I turned to someone who is.

My father-in-law had actually road-tripped a lot of the country in his younger years, so he was familiar with a lot of the places the western route snaked through. So he gave me some advice — drive from Durango to Keystone, the very last leg of MTTS. And so I did.

Durango is located quite south of Colorado and Keystone is quite north. Not only are they far apart, geographically, they’re polar opposites when it comes to scenery, style and culture. When I finally landed in Durango, it was the smallest airport I’d ever seen. There were two gates that I could see, ‘1’ and ‘2’. Coming from Newark International, where there are about a billion gates, this seemed like madness. That’s the gist of Durango, though. Small town, small neighborhoods and remnants of a bygone era.

On the drive out of Durango, we passed by abandoned mines, farms and grain silos. It felt like driving through a scene from Westworld at some points. Just, without all of the naked robots killing each other, of course. Shame. But, about two hours into the drive, those old mining towns disappeared and some sensational roads appeared.

The car I was assigned for my trip was a Starlight Blue MINI Cooper S 4-Door with a six-speed manual. Would I have like a regular 2-Door Cooper S or even a JCW? Yes. But I had the option for several different cars and that was the only manual available, so that’s what I took. Thankfully, it turned out to be a fantastic little companion. With the rear seats folded down, I had tons of space for my luggage, snacks and water in the back and the little 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder, making just 189 hp, was excellent when paired with the six-speed.

Slicing through some of the most fun and beautiful roads I’d ever seen, I was having a blast in the little MINI. It was so beautiful it was almost dangerous because it was hard to focus on the twisty road ahead, with no guard rails and thousand-foot sheer cliff drops, thanks to the absolutely breathtaking scenery we were driving through. It wasn’t beautiful scenery in the background, it was right in our face. We were in the stunning scenery. Genuinely breathtaking stuff.

It created an interesting dilemma, too, as I was torn between whether I wanted to keep snaking fantastic corners together or pull over and take pictures and take in the scenery. Unfortunately, I selfishly chose the former rather than latter, as the drive was so addictive, but the few times I did stop off to take pictures, it was well worth it. Being in the Rocky Mountains, seeing the beautiful and perfectly-preserved wilderness and smelling the clean air (even if the 9,000 – 11,000 ft altitude was getting to a lot of us) was a truly memorable experience and one the reminded me just how beautiful our country can be.

Stopping off also gave me the chance to remember just how warm and welcoming the MINI enthusiast community is. Wherever any MINI was stopped, three or four more would immediately stop as well, asking if anyone needed help and then, if not, just talk to each other. It was like taking a road trip with 1,000 family members.

At one point during the trip, while driving through truly some of the world’s best mountain roads, I passed a sign that read “Switzerland of the United States”. I thought “that’s a bit optimistic”, until I saw what lied ahead. The small little ski-towns, the old-world charm and awe-inspiring views reminded me of something I’d see Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond driving three supercars through on an old episode of Top Gear. I have been watching stuff like that for years, hoping to one day experience it for myself. Yet, there I was, doing just that. That realization sent chills down my spine and put a huge grin on my face.

As I approached the hotel in Keystone, both the roads and the scenery only got better, the towns got prettier and my eyes grew more tired. By about the sixth hour of driving, both the car and I had seen better days. It was covered in dead bugs and dirt, its brakes were probably in dire need of some cooling and it just felt tired. So was I and I didn’t smell great, either.

Finally, though, I arrived in Keystone and checked into the lovely hotel at over 9,100 ft elevation. So did hundreds of MINI owners, with their families, friends and even dogs, the latter of which were happily running around on the grassy ski slopes, as our hotel was dog-friendly.

That night, MINI hosted an event, as they did at every stop, which featured a ton of great food, drinks (thankfully) and some entertainment. It was a great way to wind down from the long day but, eventually, it was time for bed.

The next morning, MINI had another event underway throughout the massive grounds of the hotel. There were several tents setup serving food, selling MINI goodies and showing off aftermarket MINI parts, a stage with live bands and, thankfully, some breakfast for us journalists.

Our day was pretty loosely structured, so us journos could really do whatever we wanted. Though, there was an autocross event going on, where we had the chance to sample some MINI JCWs on a little course setup in a big parking lot. There, I had the chance to drive the MINI Cooper S Hardtop JCW and the MINI Clubman ALL4 JCW. I unfortunately didn’t do as well as I had hoped, being one of the slower journalists around the track. My pride will chalk it up to altitude sickness.

After that, I also had the unique opportunity to interview Charlie Cooper, currently the youngest member of the Cooper family. He was cool, kind and patient, as he didn’t show an ounce of fatigue as journalists and MINI enthusiasts alike lined up to ask him the same questions over and over, make him pose for pictures and tell him stories about their MINIS. He always had a smile on his face, even for my annoying questions and I was the last one to interview him. You can read about that interview here.

Once the interview was over, so was the event for me. We all had the typical lunch and dinner with MINI, as most press trips go, and then off to sleep to get ready for the long day of travel to follow.

Two years ago, I said I wouldn’t do it again and I was wrong. However, I’m glad because I had a lot more fun this time around and it was an experience I won’t soon forget. I always tell MINI owners that they should take part in MTTS if they haven’t already. It really is a unique experience and it envelopes you in a car culture that’s like no other int he best way possible. As a journalist, it’s fun. But as a MINI owner, it must be an absolute blast.

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