Only Green Auto Racing series on earth! [fimg=left]http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2009_VW_Jetta_TDI_Cup_winner_-_Illini_Timmy_Megenbier.jpg[/fimg]Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Aug. 7, 2009 Timmy Megenbier, the pride of Chicago, taking his 2009 Jetta TDI to the TDI Cup points lead and looking to maintain his lead into Round 6. Road America preview The 2009 SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series has turned the corner into the last half of the season and is once again heading to a new circuit to showcase the only clean diesel racing series in America. On August 14-15, the series’ 24 drivers face one of the toughest tests yet as they prepare for the challenging 14-turn, 4.048-mile track at Wisconsin’s historic Road America road course. Because Road America is a new track for the series, most of the drivers will be heading into Round 6 of the season with little to no experience on the longest circuit of the season. However, the current series points leader, Timmy Megenbier hopes that the experience that he gained at Road America in 2007 in karting and in Skip Barber will allow him to widen his 24-point lead over the rest of the competition. “My earliest memory of Road America is from when I was seven years old,” Megenbier said. “My dad and I went to the Indy car race every year, and I really grew to love the track once I began racing there. It’s really long and fast, but unlike some other circuits that we compete on, there’s not a lot of room for error since there’s limited runoff room in some of the more challenging corners. Hopefully, my past experience there will play into my favor so that I’m able to stay at the top of the standings, but I know that I’m the target for everyone else heading into race weekend.” What sets the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup apart from other racing series? The Jetta TDI Cup 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. Unlike most racing products, the Jetta TDI Cup is the ultimate display of fuel efficiency. During the race weekend, the racecars will achieve roughly 25 mpg and consume only four gallons of Syndiesel® B5 biodiesel blend. Over the course of the season, the racecars will consume only two tanks of fuel during races. In comparison, most traditional gasoline powered racecars get between 2-5 mpg. The improved fuel economy is accomplished through the use of Volkswagen’s TDI (turbo direct injection) engine technology, which improves fuel economy over gasoline engines and reduces sooty emissions by 95 percent, even under demanding race conditions. The Jetta TDI Cup features a product that consumers can buy at their local dealerships. The racecars are maintained by Volkswagen of America, which creates a level playing field for all drivers. There’s green racing, and there’s the Jetta TDI Cup In the past, racing and environmentally-friendly cars haven’t gone hand in hand. However, Volkswagen changed the game in 2008 with the introduction of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, featuring the mostly-stock, diesel Jetta TDI. Performance testing proves that diesel-powered vehicles offer more low-end torque than traditional gasoline engines, providing quicker off-the-line acceleration that’s well suited for the race track. In addition, the Jetta TDI engine’s use of a “common rail” direct injection system improves fuel economy over gasoline engines and reduces sooty emissions by 95 percent, even under demanding race conditions. To take environmental responsibility one step further, the Jetta TDI Cup is using a Syndiesel® B5 biodiesel blend provided by Houston-based HYPERFUELS to power its racecars and B20 biodiesel blends for its transport vehicles and generators. Syndiesel B5 is a blend of 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent synthetic diesel fuel. The SynDiesel B5 provides a winning combination of benefits, offering the highest cetane rating of any diesel fuel on the market today and 20 pecent more BTUs than conventional diesel. The added benefits of this type of fuel also include increased lubricity and significantly-reduced emissions from the domestically produced, renewable biodiesel component. During the 2009 season, the Jetta TDI Cup racecars will consume approximately two tanks of blended biodiesel during race conditions, and overall carbon emissions produced by the series will be reduced by 33,760 pounds as a result of the new fuels. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the Jetta TDI at an economical 30 mpg City and 41 mpg Highway. In our own review of the Jetta TDI SportWagen ,we found it is quite capable of 66.6 mpg running while driving an Interstate cross country round trip with 3 and 4 full sized adults. With reduced weight, we saw 70 + mpg with just two in the vehicle. By comparison, the 48 mpg highway rated 2010 Toyota Prius-III running with just one in the vehicle on a similar cross country round trip review drive achieved just 65.9 mpg. The Jetta TDI’s fuel efficiency combined with its environmentally-friendly emissions rating have earned the model the Smart Way designation from the EPA. The EPA created the Smart Way program to help consumers identify the cleanest, most fuel-efficient vehicles available. In addition, the 2009 Jetta TDI clean diesel was named the “Green Car of the Year®” by Green Car Journal last fall. Top 5 in the points standings after five races Column1Column2Column3Column4PositionDriver NameHometownPoints 1Timmy MegenbierMelrose Park, IL188 2 Andy LeeMaricopa, AZ164 3 Joey AtterburyRenton, WA153 4Jake ThompsonCalgary, Alberta141 5Taylor BroekemeierFt. Collins, CO115