Jersey Motorsport Park is highlighted by “Fast and Furious” TDI’s running as fast as humanly possible. [fimg=left]http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Timmy_Megenbier_17.jpg[/fimg]Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Sept. 12, 2009 Timmy Megenbier #17, current TDI Cup points lead finished a disappointing fifth in both qualifiers. Round 8 to begin tomorrow at 3:30 PM EST, Round 9 on Sunday at 10:55 AM. A weather system moved into New Jersey Thursday night that brought considerable rain to the area surrounding New Jersey Motorsports Park. A driving rain greeted the drivers yesterday morning and delayed practice on the 14-turn, 2.225-mile road course. With the rain letting up, the 26 participants competing in this weekend’s two SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup races took to the track shortly after noon for practice and two qualifying sessions. While the track remained wet because of an intermittent drizzle, the series technicians outfitted the diesel Jetta TDI’s with the grooved Pirelli rain tires to help the drivers deal with the slick conditions. When the checkered flag fell, it was Andy Lee topping the speed charts in the #27 Castrol Syntec car with a time of 1:44.789 at 77.289 mph, marking his second pole position of the season. Timmy Megenbier and Jake Thompson rounded out the top three spots. The rain dissipated for the afternoon session, but left behind many puddles and standing water when the drivers went back out on the track for the first of two qualifying sessions. Several drivers, including Joey Atterbury, Thompson and Lee took turns at the top of the leader board. However, it was Lee who once again had the quick lap of 1:43.938 at 77.931 mph when Theresa Condict impacted the tire barrier in Turn 8 ending the session. Atterbury and Thompson rounded out the top three spots for tomorrow’s race, but the competition was extremely tight. The top 12 drivers on the speed charts were all within one second of Lee’s time. “The conditions really made today very challenging,” Lee said. “There was so much water on the track today that I was hydroplaning a bit on each lap. However, I think we saw the drivers who were doing the best job managing this obstacle were the ones who ended up the fastest. Timmy (Megenbier) and I were battling pretty hard during the first qualifying session, and I think we both thought that we would pull each other along to run faster, but that wasn’t the case. Once we separated, we both got faster, and thankfully, I was able to run a quick lap before the end of the session. The rest of the weekend is going to be very interesting, but I’m hoping for the best.” The second qualifying session was reminiscent of the series’ last race at Mosport where fog and drizzle plagued the area. Like in Canada, it was Mark Pombo who best battled the elements to claim the pole position with for Round 9 on Sunday with a time of 1:43.209 at 78.841 mph. This marks the second time this season that he has put the #20 VW Parts & Accessories car on the top of the qualifying charts. Thompson and Andrew Novich rounded out the top three for Sunday’s race. This is Novich’s best starting position of the season. “The second qualifying session was redemption for me,” Pombo said. “I was fast in the first session, but I felt that I left a little bit on the table, and I was disappointed with myself. I went out there and got after it early and was .7 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, so I pulled it into the garage with about 15 minutes to go in qualifying. I thought that I was safely on top, and I didn’t want to risk damaging the car, so I thought it was best to park it. A few guys started to get close, and I thought about going back out, but thankfully my time held up.” “Today was an awesome experience for me considering I’ve never raced a car before,” Rebeaud said. “The rain really added to the challenge, but I felt that I was able to improve throughout the day. I started out around 20th on the speed charts, and by the end of the day, I was able to move up considerably. I’m super happy with how things ended up, and I can’t wait to race tomorrow.” The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series returns to action at New Jersey Motorsports Park tomorrow for Round 8 at 3:30 PM EST. Round 9, the second race of the weekend begins Sunday at 10:55 AM EST. Live timing and scoring is available at chttp://www.livetiming.net/SCCA/VW/livetiming.asp. Top 5 - Friday Qualifying Session (Round 8) Column1Column2Column3Column4Column5Column6PositionCar NumberDriverHometownSponsorTime (min:sec) @Speed (mph) 127Andy LeeMaricopa, AZCastrol1:43.938@77.931 214Joey AtterburyRenton, WAHyperfuels1:44.002@77.883 319Jake ThompsonCalgary, Alberta – CanadaOakley1:44.066@77.835 420Mark PomboDuluth, GAVW Parts & Accessories1:44.080@77.824 517Timmy MegenbierMelrose Park, ILChicagoland VW1:44.282@77.674 Top 5 - Friday Qualifying Session (Round 9) Column1Column2Column3Column4Column5Column6PositionCar NumberDriverHometownSponsorTime (min:sec) @Speed (mph) 120Mark PomboDuluth, GAVW Parts & Accessories1:43.209@78.481 219Jake ThompsonCalgary, Alberta – CanadaOakley1:43.321@78.396 322Andrew Novich Novato, CAOakley1:43.684@78.122 414Joey AtterburyRenton, WAHyperfuels1:43.685@78.121 517Timmy MegenbierMelrose Park, ILChicagoland VW1:43.977@77.901
