I know my legion of loyal followers and hardcore fans have been anxiously awaiting the Round 6 Preview, so here it is. Friday morning I head out to Chicago, Illinois for our next event at Autobahn Country Club. Chicago is one of my favorite cities ever so I can’t wait to get back there, and I’ll be looking to improve on the 6th place finish I had last year at this event. An extremely long and twisty track (23 corners), it is a place where the driver can really make a difference as it is tough to learn that many corners in one short practice session. Last year I made a little boo boo in practice and wasted half of my session, and losing out on valuable minutes of track time definitely hurt me all weekend. This year I plan to take a slightly more “mature” approach and make sure I maximize our 30 minutes of practice.

High Above Autobahn Country Club

The track is also extremely bumpy, to the point of actually affecting the racing line, so it pays to be thinking in the car and always seeking out new routes around the bumps. Headed into the event I sit 3rd in the championship, and a mere 20 points back of the leader. Most importantly I just need a solid finish that keeps me in the thick of the battle, so I don’t head into the crucial double header at Road America feeling I need to be desperate.

Although it’s been 6 weeks since we were last at the race track, I’ve definitely been busy, working hard coaching and as a mechanic at karting events across Western Canada with odkarts.com. I also had a slightly inglorious return to karting with a 3rd place finish at a local club race. Needless to say I’m anxious to get back behind the wheel of the TDI Cup car this weekend.

The last few weeks have been great for Racing for the Right To Play, as a few new donors have stepped up raising or total to $50.95 per lap. We have now raised close to $6000 at the mid point of the season which means there is great chance of reaching our goal of 10K! I just need to keep all 4 wheels on the track. To find out more visit www.jakethompson.ca/righttoplay/.

Remember the best place to get almost live updates from the track is my twitter account twitter.com/jakethompson19 (32 Followers now FTW!), and the best place to get long rambling nightly updates is right here at jakethompson.ca. Schedule for this weekend is as follows, as a I know there are millions of you out there who follow religiously on live timing:

SCHEDULE

Practice: Saturday July 31st, 2010 – 9:45AM (CST)

Qualifying: Saturday July 31st, 2010 – 5:10PM (CST)

Race: Sunday August 1st, 2010 – 9:50AM (CST)

http://livetiming.net/scca/VW

All Times Mountain

Thanks again to everyone for their continued support! Official VW preview is below.

Cheers,

- Jake Thompson

VW Jetta TDI Cup Heads To Autobahn Country Club

The Second Half of the 2010 Season Kicks-Off in Joliet, IL

2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup – Round 6
Circuit:                         Autobahn Country Club – Joliet, Illinois (21 Turns, 3.56 miles)
Date/Time:             Practice / Qualifying – Saturday, July 31 at 9:45 am ET / 5:10 pm ET
Race – Sunday, August 1 at 9:50 am ET
Race Length:             30 minutes  

About the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup

The SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup was launched in 2008 as way to introduce clean diesel technology to the U.S. market and develop the best of motorsport’s up-and-coming talent. During the season, young, up and coming drivers (between ages 16-26) compete on road courses around North America in identical factory-prepared clean diesel powered Jetta TDI’s. Each driver competing in the Series earns a professional racing license from SCCA Pro Racing at the conclusion of the season. In addition to more than $50,000 in prize money at stake during the season, the Series Champion receives Volkswagen factory career advancement support with a value up to $100,000.

The Jetta TDI Cup car is powered by a 2.0-liter, 170 hp, four-cylinder TDI clean diesel engine mated to a six-speed, double-clutch, automatic DSG transmission. The car is only slightly modified from stock with Pirelli racing tires, race suspension and brake components, drivers racing safety seat, FIA roll cage and an on-board fire extinguisher system.  Series sponsors include: Pirelli, Bosch, ViON, Castrol, Oakley, Red Bull, Staubli, Aggreko, defNder, Lamin-X, Volkswagen Driver Gear, Volkswagen Parts & Service, iRacing, Safety-Kleen and Ringer Gloves.

What sets the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup apart from other racing series?

·     The Series is the only clean diesel racing series in the United States, and Volkswagen is the only auto manufacturer participating in motorsports full time with diesel powered cars.
·     The TDI engine technology improves fuel economy over gasoline engines and reduces sooty emissions by 95 percent, even under demanding race conditions. The Series will consume approximately two tanks of fuel during its         ten races this season.
·     The Jetta TDI Cup features a vehicle similar to what consumers can buy at their local Volkswagen dealerships.
·     Cars are maintained by Volkswagen of America, which creates a level playing field for all drivers.

News & Notes:

Volkswagen Motorsports Manager, Campbell, on the First Half of the 2010 Season

“This year’s Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup is certainly the most exciting we’ve seen since the Series’ inception in 2008,” said Clark Campbell, Motorsports Manager, Volkswagen of America, Inc.  ”We’ve had four different race winners in the first five events and there are five rookies in the top-ten in the Championship point standings. Our goal for the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup is to develop young, up-and-coming talent, while demonstrating the benefits of clean diesel technology to the US market. I think we’re definitely headed in the right direction and I can’t wait to see how the second half of the year unfolds.”

Tight Points Race Heading to Joliet

A mere 28 points separate the top five drivers in the 2010 Championship point standings heading into next weekend’s event at Autobahn Country Club.  Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle is the current points leader; and has earned one victory, one pole and three podium appearances in the year’s first five events.  Rookie Arie Ouimet sits just six points behind Sierra Lendle in second place.  Ouimet has earned two podium results and three top-four finishes in the past three events and he’s currently the Series’ hottest driver.  With a streak like that, it’s not out of the question that we could have a new points leader heading out of Joliet.

The battle for the lead isn’t the only one going on in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup field; only 51 points separate fifth-tenth place and with 60 points available to the driver that notches the victory, things can change very quickly.   

2010 Season By the Numbers

We’re halfway through the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup season, and with four race winners in five events, you could definitely say the competition is tight.  Of those four drivers, three of them captured their first-ever Series victory this season – Ryan Ellis won the pair of season-opening races at VIRginia International Raceway, Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle won in New Jersey and rookie Wyatt Gooden won at Mid-Ohio; Jake Thompson was the only previous winner as he earned victories in Virginia and New Jersey in 2009 (this year he won in Utah). Another thing to note is that the polesitter has won four of the five races in 2010 (Gooden is the only winner not to have started from the pole – he started second in Mid-Ohio on the way to his victory).

A total of twelve drivers have earned top-five appearances to date (Sierra Lendle, Thompson and Gooden lead the Series with three) and four different drivers have set the fastest race lap in an event this season.  While current points leader Sierra Lendle has led 34 of the 80 laps run in competition (43%), five other drivers have combined to lead the other 46 laps.  And lastly, this season to date, there have been a total of 308 passes for position among the Series’ 25 drivers; rookie Jenna Wagner and JD Mobley are at the top of the “pass chart” as they’ve both made an astounding 23 passes to gain position in the first half of the season.

Nine Veterans Return to Autobahn Country Club

This season, there are nine drivers returning to the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup from last year, including four drivers who finished in the top-ten at Autobahn Country Club in 2009.  Last year, Andrew Cordeiro finished fourth, Jake Thompson finished sixth, Taylor Broekemeier finished seventh and JD Mobley finished tenth at the 3.56-mile road course.  AJ Nealey was one spot shy of the top-ten as he brought his car home in 11th; right behind him were Ryan Ellis and 2010 Championship points leader Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle finishing 12th and 13th respectively.  Juan Pablo Delgado finished 15th and Andrew Novich finished 24th after being knocked out of the race on lap seven after suffering tire damage.

Local Driver Taylor Tzouanakis Set for Hometown Race

When the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup heads to Autobahn Country Club next weekend, one driver will be less than 50 miles away from his hometown.  Taylor Tzouanakis, a resident of Wauconda, Ill is making his debut in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup this season and will no doubt be looking for a trip to Victory Lane in his home state.

Tzouanakis received a go-kart for his ninth birthday and he’s been racing ever since.  In 2006, Tzouanakis began competing in indoor go-karts, where he earned two different Championships and over 40 race wins.  In 2007, he moved into the Rotax Mini Max Class and then moved up again the next year into the Rotax Junior Class.  

In 2009, Tzouanakis won the MRP South Bend Rotax Junior Class Championship after winning six of 11 events.  He also finished second in the US Rotax Max Challenge National point standings.  Tzouanakis would also compete in the Florida Winter Tour in the Rotax Junior Class, earning a best finish of fourth at the Ocala Grand Prix.  

Tzouanakis is using the opportunity of competing in the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series as a way to improve his racing skills in hopes of evolving into a better driver, elevating him through the ranks to a premier open-wheel series.

Virginia Tech students earn their racing stripes with the Jetta TDI Cup

There’s no better experience than on-the-job training, which is why nearly 20 engineering students from Virginia Tech University are taking part in the 2010 Jetta TDI Cup season. The Volkswagen Motorsports Jetta TDI Cup program allows Virginia Teach students interested in pursuing a career in motorsports with an opportunity to experience it first-hand. The students provide technical support at Volkswagen’s race shop at VIR and on the road at the Series’ ten race events. During the season, up to fifteen students will travel to each race and work alongside the Series technicians getting hands-on experience with every aspect of motorsports from changing tires to downloading data.

The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup program is an ideal way for students interested in a career in motorsports to learn about the industry and it provides them with the advantage of real-world experience before they enter the workplace.

Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Point Standings (Through Five Rounds)

Driver   Points   
1.   Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle   158   
2.   Arie Ouimet (R)   152   
3.   Jake Thompson   136   
4.   JD Mobley   133   
5.   Wyatt Gooden (R)   130   
6.   Ryan Ellis   112   
7.   Jarvis Gennari (R)   99   
8.   AJ Nealey   93   
9.   Michael Hogg (R)   88   
10.  Nate Norenberg (R)   79   
11.  Taylor Broekemeier   79   
12.  Juan Pablo Delgado   79   
13.  Kevin Gleason (R)   78   
14.  Andrew Cordeiro   56   
15.  Andrew Novich   54   
16.  JJ Tomlinson (R)   49   
17.  Taylor Tzouanakis (R)   38   
18.  Brian Whitmire (R)   37   
19.  Mike Mineo-Nardacci (R)   32   
20.  Chris Wehrheim   27   
21. Colin Thompson (R)   19   
22.  Rafael Navarro IV (R)   17   
23.  AJ Severino (R)   13   
24.  Justine Jackson (R)   6   
25.  Jenna Wagner (R)   2  

Follow the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series action on:
www.volkswagenjettacup.com
Volkswagen Online Newsroom: media.vw.com
Live Timing & Scoring: http://livetiming.net/scca/VW
Live Timing & Scoring for your Mobile Device: http://livetiming.net/SCCA/VW/html.asp
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/JettaTDICup
Twitter: http://twitter.com/VWJettaTDICup

About Volkswagen of America:

Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world’s largest producers of passenger cars and Europe’s largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Golf, GTI, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Eos, Passat, Passat Wagon, CC, Tiguan, Touareg and Routan through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. All 2010 Volkswagens come standard-equipped with Electronic Stabilization Program. This is important because the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called ESC the most effective new vehicle safety technology since the safety belt. Visit Volkswagen of America online at www.vw.com or www.media.vw.com to learn more.

About SCCA Pro Racing:

A wholly owned subsidiary of Sports Car Club of America, Inc., SCCA Pro Racing Inc. is a leading sanctioning body for motorsports events in the United States. A member of the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS), SCCA Pro Racing operates and sanctions the World Challenge Championships, the SCCA Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup, SCCA Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, SCCA Pro Trans-Am Series, Spec Racer Ford Pro Series and Formula Enterprises Pro Series. For more information, please visit www.sccapro.com.
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