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POMBO WINS THE VOLKSWAGEN JETTA TDI CUP POLE AT MOSPORT
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Series veteran claims his first pole of the season
Bowmanville, ON (August 29, 2009) – The drivers competing in the SCCA Pro Racing race weekend at Mosport International Raceway battled the elements in today's practice and qualifying sessions. They saw it all on the 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course–rain, fog and even a few peeks of sun, which made tire selection a bit difficult.
Heavy rain drenched the Mosport area early Saturday morning, and the drivers battled a wet track on grooved rain tires during the early practice session. The challenging conditions didn't limit Mark Pombo from claiming the top time in practice - 1:47.851 (82.080 mph). The Duluth, Georgia native was followed by Theresa Condict (1:48.901/ 81.288 mph) and AJ Nealey (1:49.259/81.022 mph).
When the green flag waved for the 30-minute afternoon qualifying session, the track had dried and the series technicians switched the cars to slick tires. As a result, the drivers started to push their cars to the limit and saw increased speeds. The increased risk led to off-track excursions by Nealey, Condict and Perry Richardson and Andrew Novich, which shortened all of their qualifying sessions. As the clocked ticked into the final minutes, it appeared as though Jake Thompson of Calgary, Alberta would win the pole position, but Pombo put the pedal to the floor on his last lap to regain his position on the top of the speed charts and claim his first pole of the season in dramatic fashion. Pombo's time of 1:37.160 (91.111 mph) topped Thompson and Andy Lee who rounded out the top three positions. Series points leader, Timmy Megenbier will start fourth and Donny Warren posted his best qualifying effort of the season, fifth. Andrew Cordeiro and David Richert, the two other Canadian drivers competing this weekend, will start 10th and 22nd respectively.
"When I got to the track this weekend, I was hoping for it to rain because we ran here in the wet last year," Pombo said. "Unfortunately, it dried out a bit for qualifying, and none of us had gotten any laps in on slick tires. I made some mistakes early in the session, but I was able to get in one last hot lap before the checkered flag that allowed me to jump up the charts. This feels really good since I've had a bit of a challenging season, but the race is what earns us points. I'm looking forward to keeping the #20 Fresh From Florida/HEAL/HYPERFUELS car on top tomorrow."
The series is joined this weekend by three guest drivers–ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup driver Maximilian Hackländer and Canadian automotive journalists, Jim Kenzie and Marc Lachapelle. Hackländer will lead the trio in tomorrow's race, as he qualified 14th in his first time in the Jetta TDI Cup car. Lachapelle and Kenzie will start 19th and 24th respectively.
"It's really a great opportunity for me to join the Jetta TDI Cup series here this weekend at Mosport," Hackländer said. "The track is a lot of fun with all of the hills, and the car is a bit easier to drive than the Polo Cup car in Germany. The weather was a bit challenging today, as my first time to drive the car on dry pavement was during qualifying. As a result, I'm satisfied with my qualifying time, but I'm looking forward to moving to the front in the race tomorrow."
The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series returns to action at Mosport on Sunday at 8:30 am ET for Round 7 of the season. Live timing and scoring is available at chttp://www.livetiming.net/SCCA/VW/livetiming.asp <http://news.automotive-events.com/m/0a3GdkiMZ-mg8nB8AxmBgyqDrpQnXEGTPUfx07X7SqOJsHv04g> .
Saturday Practice Session:
Position/Car Number/Driver/Hometown/Sponsor/Time/Speed
1 20 Mark Pombo/Duluth/GA/VW Parts & Accessories/ 1:47.851 / 82.080
2 15 Theresa Condict(R)/Lexington/MA/HYPERFUELS/ 1:48.901 / 81.288
3 2 AJ Nealey(R)/Pasadena/MD Sherwin-Williams/ 1:49.259 / 81.022
4 29 Devin Cates(R)/Broad Run/VA/HYPERFUELS/ 1:49.259 / 81.022
5 4 Nicky Boulle(R)/Dallas/TX/Defnder/ 1:49.360 / 80.947
6 27 Andy Lee/Maricopa/AZ/Castrol/ 1:49.399 / 80.918
7 24 Donny Warren(R)/Winchester/VA/Aggreko/ 1:49.478 / 80.860
8 17 Timmy Megenbier/Melrose Park/IL Chicagoland VW/ 1:49.704 / 80.693
9 19 Jake Thompson(R)/Calgary/AB/Bosch/ 1:49.732 / 80.673
10 7 JD Mobley(R)/Castle Rock/CO/Bosch/ 1:49.766 / 80.648
11 22 Andrew Novich(R)/Novato/CA/Oakley/ 1:49.863 / 80.576
12 30 Perry Richardson(R)/Los Gatos/CA/Pirelli/ 1:49.916 / 80.537
13 23 Juan Pablo SierraLendle/Puebla/MX/Castrol/ 1:50.052 / 80.438
14 3 Taylor Broekemeier/Fort Collins/CO/Oakley/ 1:50.194 / 80.334
15 26 Andrew Cordeiro/Woodbridge/ON/VION/ 1:50.374 / 80.203
16 16 Eric Morse(R)/Pittsburgh/PA/Amplify/ 1:50.477 / 80.128
17 21 Maximilian Hacklander(G)/Ruthen/GR/VW Parts & Accessories/ 1:50.530 / 80.090
18 14 Joey Atterbury(R)/Renton/WA/SCCA/ 1:50.603 / 80.037
19 8 Derek Jones/Philadelphia/PA/Aggreko/ 1:50.682 / 79.980
20 34 Juan Pablo Delgado(R)/Orizaba/VZ/Red Bull/ 1:51.065 / 79.704
21 18 Kerstin Smutny(R)/Bothell/WA/iRacing.com/ 1:51.724 / 79.234
22 35 Marc Lachapelle(G)/Longueuil/QU/VW Preloved/ 1:52.046 / 79.006
23 5 Ryan Ellis(R)/Ashburn/VA/VION/ 1:52.244 / 78.867
24 6 David Richert/Niverville/MB/LAMIN-X/ 1:52.926 / 78.391
25 31 Jim Kenze(G)/Toronto/ON/Virginia Tech/ 1:53.928 / 77.701
26 32 Andrew Gun Tucker(R)/McDonough/GA/Pirelli/ 2:30.088 / 58.981
(R) – Jetta TDI Cup Rookie Driver
(G) – Guest Driver
Saturday Qualifying Session:
Position/Car Number/Driver/Hometown/Sponsor/Time/Speed
1 20 Mark Pombo/Duluth/GA/VW Parts & Accessories/ 1:37.160 / 91.111
2 19 Jake Thompson(R)/Calgary/AB/Bosch/ 1:37.883 / 90.438
3 27 Andy Lee/Maricopa/AZ/Castrol/ 1:37.980 / 90.349
4 17 Timmy Megenbier/Melrose Park/IL/Chicagoland VW/ 1:38.140 / 90.201
5 24 Donny Warren(R)/Winchester/VA/Aggreko/ 1:38.570 / 89.808
6 14 Joey Atterbury(R)/Renton/WA/SCCA/ 1:38.581 / 89.798
7 7 JD Mobley(R)/Castle Rock/CO/Bosch/ 1:38.631 / 89.752
8 5 Ryan Ellis(R)/Ashburn/VA/VION/ 1:38.854 / 89.550
9 23 Juan Pablo SierraLendle/Puebla/MX/Castrol/ 1:38.970 / 89.445
10 26 Andrew Cordeiro/Woodbridge/ON/VION/ 1:39.028 / 89.393
11 8 Derek Jones/Philadelphia/PA/Aggreko/ 1:39.130 / 89.301
12 3 Taylor Broekemeier/Fort Collins/CO/Oakley/ 1:39.256 / 89.187
13 29 Devin Cates(R)/Broad Run/VA/HYPERFUELS/ 1:39.321 / 89.129
14 21 Maximilian Hacklander(G)/Ruthen/GR/VW Parts & Accessories/ 1:39.427 / 89.034
15 22 Andrew Novich(R)/Novato/CA/Oakley/ 1:39.591 / 88.887
16 16 Eric Morse(R)/Pittsburgh/PA/Amplify/ 1:39.850 / 88.657
17 4 Nicky Boulle(R)/Dallas/TX/Defnder/ 1:39.899 / 88.613
18 18 Kerstin Smutny(R)/Bothell/WA/iRacing.com/ 1:40.262 / 88.292
19 35 Marc Lachapelle(G)/Longueuil/QU/VW Preloved/ 1:40.559 / 88.032
20 34 Juan Pablo Delgado(R)/Orizaba/VZ/Red Bull/ 1:40.809 / 87.813
21 2 AJ Nealey(R)/Pasadena/MD/Sherwin-Williams/ 1:41.080 / 87.578
22 6 David Richert/Niverville/MB/LAMIN-X/ 1:42.043 / 86.751
23 32 Andrew Gun Tucker(R)/McDonough/GA/Pirelli/ 1:44.967 / 84.335
24 31 Jim Kenze(G)/Toronto/ON/Virginia Tech/ 1:45.985 / 83.525
25 15 Theresa Condict(R)/Lexington/MA/HYPERFUELS/ 2:30.742 / 58.725
26 30 Perry Richardson(R)/Los Gatos/CA/Pirelli/ 3:05.773 / 47.651
(R) – Jetta TDI Cup Rookie Driver
(G) – Guest Driver
About Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup
The 2009 season marks the second year of competition for the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, which is sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing. During the season, young, up and coming drivers (between ages 16-26) will compete in 10 events on eight road courses around North America in identical factory-prepared clean diesel Jetta TDI's powered by Syndiesel® B5 blended biodiesel fuel. Each driver competing in the series will earn a Pro Racing license from SCCA at the conclusion of the season. In addition to more than $50,000 in prize money at stake during the season, the series champion will win $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, HYPERFUELS, Aggreko, defNder, Lamin-X, Meguiar's, Sherwin-Williams, Chicagoland VW, Safety-Kleen, Ringer Gloves, Jim Russell Racing School and Trellis Earth.
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