Audi Club Nationals 2018

 

Audi Club Nationals 2018
“The Pacific Northwest Experience”

Audi Club Northwest is excited to host the 34th annual National Event for Audi Club North America in the natural beauty of the Greater Seattle-Tacoma area on the shores of Puget Sound. We invite you to experience all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer, from scenic drives past towering forests and snow-capped mountains, to world-class wineries, distilleries and breweries, aerospace centers of excellence, and world-famous landmarks like the Pike Place Market and Space Needle. In true Audi Club Northwest fashion, a thrilling 2-day high performance driving education event at Ridge Motorsports Park will round out the experience. The Ridge, as it’s known, is a 2.47-mile road course with 16 turns and over 300 feet of elevation change, including an exhilarating 50-foot plunge down the 'Ridge Complex'. Wondering about the weather? August is the best time of the year to visit Western Washington with blue skies and average temperatures in the mid-70s. 

Event Schedule

Wednesday, August 8

• Registration and welcome reception at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma
• Welcome Tourist Trophy of America (Tourist Trophy of America 2018) participants

Thursday, August 9

• Morning options
  • Cascade Mountains and Snoqualmie Falls area fun-drive
  • Woodinville Winery tours
  • Chateau Ste Michelle Experience: Winery Tour + Tasting + Blending + Lunch
    • Enhance your wine knowledge as you learn about Chateau Ste. Michelle’s rich heritage. Get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of winemaking, and see what makes the Columbia valley such a premier grape growing region.
    • In your custom tasting experience, you will be given a rare opportunity to compare, contrast, and explore premium wine selections with an introduction of how to taste wine. You will learn how to identify and describe aromas that will help you determine classic grape varieties by using sight, smell and taste in A Sensory Sojourn.
    • After a tour of the winery’s bottling line and fermentation tanks, you will have the opportunity to become a winemaker for a day! Create your own red wine blend while discovering different varietals and their attributes!  Whether you’re a connoisseur or a novice, this unique, hands-on journey starts with exploring and mixing three different wines from our award-winning vineyards.  Taste, blend, then do it all again, until you feel it’s just right.
• Lunch at the Chateau Ste Michelle Winery, sponsored by Pirelli (included in the Chateau Ste Michelle Experience)
• Afternoon Woodinville Winery and Woodinville Distillery tours
• Evening social

Friday, August 10

• Seattle walking tour and Museum of Flight
  • Pike Place Market and Seattle Waterfront including Wings over Washington and the Seattle Great Wheel
  • Lunch at the Museum of Flight
  • Docent-guided tour of the Museum of Flight
• Organized driving tour of the Olympic Peninsula including Hood Canal
• Friday evening banquet at the LeMay – America’s Car Museum with special guest speakers and a live auction

Saturday, August 11

• High Performance Driving Education event at Ridge Motorsports Park for track attendees
• "Let's Go!" Breakfast at Hotel Murano for non-track attendees
• Karting at the Ridge Grand Prix @ Ridge Motorsports Park
• Lunch at Ridge Motorsports Park with Parade Laps and Instructor Rides for visiting members
• Self-guided tours to explore Seattle, Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest
• Evening social in Tacoma

Sunday, August 12

• High Performance Driving Education event at The Ridge Motorsports Park
• Lunch at The Ridge Motorsports Park with Parade Laps and Instructor Rides for visiting members
• Self-guided tours to explore Seattle, Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest

Keep up to date with new information at https://audiclubna.org/national-event.

Registration opens at 3:00 PM PDT (6:00 PM EDT) on April 17, 2018.

Important note: Driving events in the Pacific Northwest SELL OUT quickly. This is why the schedule and choices are being shown two weeks in advance of the actual registration opening. You can set up up a MotorsportReg profile early, or update your existing profile with ACNA Membership number, current email, and emergency contact so you can hit the Continue button right at the opening time. Be ready. Contact us (below) if you have questions.

Event Accommodations

Hotel Murano
1320 Broadway | Tacoma, Washington 98402

Hotel Murano is a boutique hotel in downtown Tacoma located just steps from the city’s best museums and restaurants. Tacoma (recently voted best place to live in the Northwest by Sunset Magazine) is the epicenter of the American glass art movement and, honoring that heritage, Hotel Murano pairs luxurious guestrooms with a museum worthy collection of glass art from around the globe. Hotel Murano is conveniently located in the heart of Tacoma attractions, including Chambers Bay, site of the 2015 U.S. Open Golf Championship, and just 40 minutes to downtown Seattle. With a world-class art collection, delicious cuisine at Bite and craft cocktails at the Lobby Bar, and a full-service spa and salon, Hotel Murano is the perfect place to wake up inspired. As one of Tacoma’s finest pet friendly hotels, Hotel Murano invites guests and man’s best friend to take on Tacoma while enjoying their boutique accommodations, timeless service, and modern style.

Hotel Murano will serve as the beginning point for our daily drives and tours, as well as the Wednesday evening reception and other social activities.

For reservations call (253) 238-8000, ask for the Audi Club Nationals 2018 group rate; or via e-mail to: info@hotelmuranotacoma.com; or online at www.hotelmuranotacoma.com, enter check-in and check-out dates, Submit, then ‘Group Code’ 0712959, then click ‘Modify’.  A direct link into hotel registration is available here.

Silvercar Rental
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Audi Club North America specials on Audi A4 or Audi Q5 vehicles.

Want to participate in this year’s 34th Annual National Event, but it’s too far to drive from home? Fortunately, for Audi enthusiasts far from home, a local Silvercar location can fill the gap with a new Audi A4 or Q5 as managed by Silvercar’s unique smart device app system.

Audi Club Northwest has paired with Silvercar as partner to the 2018 Audi Club National Event, creating a substantial discount for those members seeking to rent an Audi in order to take part in the event.

Visit Silvercar.com and reserve a two-day rental for the price of one day using promo code MYAUDI1 or reserve a four-day rental for the price of two days using promo code MYAUDI2. Call 855-FLY-2-CAR with questions or email support@silvercar.com.

 

Pacific Northwest Experience Highlights

Seattle

Enjoy walking around the world-famous Pike Place Market, a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront. The market opened in 1907 and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers’ markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants.  With more than 10 million visitors annually, Pike Place Market is Seattle’s most popular tourist destination and the 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world.

Experience the Seattle Center, originally built for the 1962 World’s Fair.  Its landmark feature is the 605-foot tall Space Needle, a now-iconic building that was, at its completion, the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. The Seattle Center also includes exceptional museums such as the Chihuly Garden and Glass, the Museum of Pop Culture, and the Pacific Science Center.

Take in the views of Seattle and its surrounding beauty from vantage points such as Kerry Park, Alki Beach, and the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, with inspiring views of the city, Elliot Bay, and Lake Union with Mount Rainier and the Olympic Mountains in the background.

Tacoma

Sitting at the foot of Mount Rainier, Tacoma is a perfect base point for exploring Mount Rainier National Park and the spectacular landscape surrounding it. As host to this year’s 34th Annual National Event, you’ll have ample opportunity to enjoy Tacoma’s lively downtown including the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, the Museum of Glass – an international center for contemporary art with a sustained focus on glass and glass-making, and LeMay – America’s Car Museum, the site of the Friday evening banquet.

Can’t get enough of the stunning, four-level, 165,000 sq. ft. facility featuring 12 rotating exhibits and over 250 vehicles? Check out the LeMay Collections at Marymount, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Largest Antique & Vintage Vehicle Collection” with more than 1900 vehicles.

For the golfers out there, the site of the 2015 U.S. Open Championship, Chambers Bay, is just 10 miles away from Hotel Murano. Rated as one of the Top 25 Public Courses in North America by Golf Digest, the towering sand dunes, massive fairways, and breathtaking views of the Puget Sound and snow-capped Olympic Mountains brings the traditions of Scottish links to the Pacific Northwest.

Woodinville

Woodinville Wine Country is a mere 30 minutes northeast of Seattle, but it might as well be on the other side of the world. This small, scenic valley is where the fruit of Eastern Washington meets the vintners, chefs and flavors of the Pacific Northwest. It’s a delicious crossroads of winemaking, microbrewing, fine dining, and the people who pour their heart and soul into them. Enjoy some of the 118 wineries and tasting rooms, 14 microbreweries, distilleries and cideries, and 30 restaurants and eateries with a guided tasting tour including lunch, sponsored by Pirelli, at the historic Chateau Ste. Michelle winery.

Aerospace Attractions

Anchored by more than 100 years of Boeing innovation, the region is home to many aviation firsts. The Museum of Flight is the world’s largest independent non-profit air and space museum, with William Boeing’s original factory and hundreds of exhibits spanning technologies including the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. The Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour features a one-of-a-kind opportunity to view 747, 777 and 787 Dreamliner aircraft being assembled in the world’s largest building. For those seeking more adventure, Kenmore Air offers seaplane tours guaranteed to thrill.

Organized Driving Tours

Cascade Mountains and Snoqualmie Falls area fun-drive: Come enjoy the temperate rainforest against the west side of the Cascade Mountains.  Along with huge old growth fir forests you will see spectacular mountain views along with one of Washington’s most popular scenic attractions, Snoqualmie Falls.  Expect a fantastic array of windy mountain roads with open sweeping views, finishing up in the Woodinville wine district where we will be treated to a delicious lunch at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery sponsored by Pirelli Tires.

Olympic Peninsula including Hood Canal: The Hood Canal is a natural waterway west of Seattle.  It is deep and navigable for much of its length. There are many miles of exquisite shoreline and the Olympic Mountains are nearby.  Come on out for a tour of some of the lesser-known areas of the Puget Sound region. The Hood Canal Loop is known to local drivers and is well worth a tour.

Track Day at Ridge Motorsports Park

Join Audi Club Northwest at Ridge Motorsports Park, and drive one of the most fun and challenging road courses in the Pacific Northwest! The road circuit was penned by Steve Crawford, designer of Thunderhill Raceway Park, and is 40 feet wide, 2.47 miles in length, with 16 turns, and has over 300 feet of elevation change, including the 50-foot plunge down the ‘Ridge Complex’. Each lap of “The Ridge” road circuit thrills with high-speed straights, sweeper turns, huge compressions, blind weightless crests, challenging esses, and a long carousel turn where you walk the tightrope between speed and grip. All of this in a park-like forest setting, with stunning territorial and mountain views.

If the track day isn’t your style, check out the Ridge Grand Prix karting track, a 1/5th scale replica of the Ridge Motorsports Park road circuit. Ridge Grand Prix has all the same features as its big brother including elevation changes, blind corners and the signature Ridge Complex. Or, drive a few low-speed parade laps of the ‘big’ road circuit during lunch.

Create Your Own Adventure

Want to do your own thing? Seattle, Tacoma, and the surrounding region are some of the most scenic and culturally rich areas in the country. With so much to do, you may want to consider extending your stay in the area to choose more adventures to experience. Follow the links below for the detailed self-guided tours we're suggesting:

• Explore the Seattle Center including the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, and Museum of Pop Culture.
• Tour the world-famous Boeing Factory and Future of Flight experience in Everett, Washington
• Whidbey Island / Port Townsend driving tour with rides on the iconic Washington State Ferries
• Whidbey Island / Deception Pass driving tour with rides on the iconic Washington State Ferries
• Whale Watching on a cruise out of Friday Harbor on San Juan Island
• Scenic seaplane tours of Seattle or the San Juan Islands or plane tours of Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens
• Mount Rainier driving loop including Chinook Pass
• Mount Saint Helens driving loop featuring the Johnston Ridge Observatory or Ape Cave

Arriving early, or staying late?

Check out Seattle’s Seafair Weekend Festival (August 3-5), which includes the Boeing Seafair Air Show and unlimited hydroplane racing on Lake Washington. The Air Show will feature the United States Navy’s flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels. Additionally, the NHRA Northwest Nationals professional drag racing event is happening at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington the same weekend.

Additional details for your planning

Registration pricing includes lunch for each day you participate in the track days at Ridge Motorsports Park. Guest lunches can be added during registration.  

Note: When meals are a part of our events, ACNW will attempt to accommodate special dietary requirements if requested. However, meals are provided by third parties and circumstances may not always enable ACNW or its vendors to meet every special dietary need.

ACNA membership is required for all lapping participants at the HPDE days (Sat, Sun). Drivers who are not yet members, or who need to renew an existing membership, may handle that by visiting the Audi Club North America website here.

You are encouraged to bring friends or family too! You may be able to arrange rides for family and friends with designated instructors on Saturday or Sunday to experience first hand what a lapping day is all about.

Contacts for this event are Todd Peach, Registrar or Dan Garber, Event Master.