Timmy Megenbier Wins Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Round Three at Miller Motorsports Park

Vancouver‘s Thompson retains the Championship points lead

TOOELE, Utah, May 17 /PRNewswire/ — Timmy Megenbier and Jake Thompson had a seesaw battle during this weekend’s SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup racing events at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park. However, it was Megenbier who claimed victory in today’s race by an 8.266-second margin.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090517/119102-a )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090517/119102-b )

The weekend started off with Megenbier running the fastest lap during Saturday’s practice session, only to be topped in qualifying by Thompson. However, in the race, Megenbier capitalized on an early mistake by the pole sitter to take the lead on lap one. Megenbier never looked back and took the checkered flag in the #17 ChicagolandVW.com car, marking the Melrose Park, Illinois-native’s first series win in two seasons.

“I felt good on the track all weekend, but last night after practice and qualifying, I spent a lot of time analyzing the car data that we had collected to put together a game plan for today’s race,” Megenbier said. “My main goal was to keep the car on the track and run consistent laps to preserve my tires until the end. The Pirelli tires were great and didn’t seem to wear or even diminish at any point during the race. It feels really good to be able to score my first win here in Utah. Last year had its ups and downs, but I think my results this season so far put me in a good position to make a run at the championship.”

After his early mistake on lap one, Vancouver’s Thompson was able to recover and secure a second-place finish. The Vancouver native also had the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:41.812 (77.189 mph). Puebla, Mexico’s Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle rounded out the podium with a career best third-place finish. This is the first time in series history that an American, Canadian and Mexican driver have been featured on the same podium.

Thompson headed into this weekend’s action tied for the championship lead with Renton, Washington’s Joey Atterbury. However, Thompson’s finish places him in the points lead with 91 points, while Atterbury drops to third with 73 points. Megenbier’s win moves him from ninth to second in the standings with 80 points. Taylor Broekemeier (69) and Mark Pombo (68) round out the top five.

“It was a pretty good day, and I was obviously hoping to come out on top after starting from the pole. Timmy (Megenbier) had a little bit more than me today, so I had to settle in and drive my race,” Thompson said. “I got fairly close to him with about five laps left, but I used up my tires chasing him down and started making a few mistakes. Luckily, there was a pretty decent gap between myself and I was able to drive a bit more conservatively at that point to hold on to second place. The championship is my ultimate goal, so I’ll take the points today and look to get back on the top of the podium at Mid-Ohio.”

After the race, series officials imposed penalties on Andrew Novich and Kerstin Smutny for separate on-track incidents. Novich was penalized 10 points and five grid positions for the next race. Smutny was penalized one finishing position and five grid positions for the next race.

Miller Motorsports Park Director of Business Development, Bryan Miller placed 25th in the race as a guest driver. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series’ next race is at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, May 20-21.

Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Round 3 (18 Laps)

Position/Car Number/Driver/Hometown/Sponsor/Time/Speed

    1 2 17 Timmy Megenbier/Melrose Park/IL/ChicagolandVW.com/ 1:41.857 /
           77.155
    2 1 19 Jake Thompson(R)/Vancouver BC/CN ViON/ 1:41.812 / 77.189
    3 3 23 Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle/Puebla/MX/Castrol/ 1:41.834 / 77.172
    4 5 27 Andy Lee/Maricopa/AZ/Castrol/ 1:41.944 / 77.089
    5 4 3 Taylor Broekemeier/Fort Collins/CO/Pirelli/ 1:42.142 / 76.940
    6 10 14 Joey Atterbury(R)/Renton/WA/Red Bull/ 1:42.591 / 76.603
    7 7 20 Mark Pombo/Duluth/GA/Volkswagen Parts & Accessories/ 1:42.443 /
           76.713
    8 11 8 Derek Jones/Philadelphia/PA/Aggreko/ 1:42.617 / 76.583
    9 6 2 AJ Nealey(R)/Edgewater/MD/Oakley/ 1:42.583 / 76.609
    10 9 30 Perry Richardson(R)/Los Gatos/CA/DefNder/ 1:42.944 / 76.340
    11 8 7 JD Mobley(R)/Castle Rock/CO/Bosch/ 1:42.822 / 76.431
    12 12 29 Devin Cates(R)/Broad Run/VA/HYPERFUELS/ 1:42.798 / 76.449
    13 15 4 Nicky Boulle(R)/Dallas/TX/Pirelli/ 1:42.645 / 76.563
    14 16 5 Ryan Ellis(R)/Ashburn/VA/ViON/ 1:42.583 / 76.609
    15 13 22 Andrew Novich(R)/Novato/CA/Meguiars/ 1:42.355 / 76.779
    16 14 26 Andrew Cordeiro/Woodbridge/Ont/CN/Lamin-X/ 1:43.003 / 76.296
    17 21 34 Juan Pablo Delgado(R)/Orizaba/VZ/MX/SCCA/ 1:43.356 / 76.036
    18 17 24 Donny Warren(R)/Winchester/VA/Aggreko/ 1:42.913 / 76.363
    19 18 6 David Richert/Niverville/MB/CN/Bosch/ 1:43.368 / 76.027
    20 22 11 Kyle Wharff(R)/Miramar/FL/Volkswagen Parts & Accessories/
             1:43.501 / 75.929
    21 19 16 Eric Morse(R)/Pittsburgh/PA/Volkswagen Pre-loved/ 1:43.497 /
             75.932
    22 23 15 Theresa Condict(R)/Lexington/MA/HYPERFUELS/ 1:44.793 / 74.993
    23 20 18 Kerstin Smutny(R)/Bothell/WA/iRacing.com/ 1:44.592 / 75.137
    24 25 32 Andrew Gun Tucker(R)/McDonough/GA/Oakley/ 1:44.380 / 75.290
       24 37 Bryan Miller(G)/Salt Lake City/UT/Athletes Performance/
             1:45.831/74.258
    (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(R) 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 Head and Neck Restraint, Safety-Kleen, Ringer Gloves, Jim Russell Racing School and Trellis Earth.

Follow the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series action on:

www.vwmotorsportusa.com

www.tditruthanddare.com

SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Live Timing & Scoring: http://www.livetiming.net/SCCA/VW/livetiming.asp

Volkswagen Online Newsroom: media.vw.com

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/JettaTDICup

Twitter: http://twitter.com/VWJettaTDICup

Volkswagen of America, Inc.

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 Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Eos, GLI, Passat, Passat wagon, CC, Tiguan, Touareg 2 and Routan through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. All 2009 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 vw.com or www.media.vw.com to learn more.

SCCA Pro Racing

A wholly owned subsidiary of Sports Car Club of America, Inc., SCCA Pro Racing Ltd. 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 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, as well as provides sanctioning and various operational services for other racing series. For more information, please visit www.sccapro.com.

* Series photos available upon request or via media.vw.com

SOURCE Volkswagen of America, Inc.