Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series Update
The latest two races of the Volkwagen Jetta TDI Cup Series have been full of drama and triumph and such tight racing that the top position was almost never decided until the final lap.
Several weeks ago the TDI Cup made their first and only west coast stop on the 2008 schedule at Portland International Raceway.Following a solid finish at Mosport, Andy Lee was 10th in overall points and primed to improve his standings. Practice and Qualifying went well with Andyrunning top 10 lap times in both sessions and at some points as high as 3rd fastest. Qualifying was extremely tight with the top 20 drivers within a second. Andy would start 9th only 3 tenthsof a second off the poll time.
At the start of the race, drama wouldensue as Andy had some minor gearbox issues off the start and would lose a few positions. Once he got going things started to work in his favor as nearly every lap he was able to gain positions and soon found himself in 8th place behind the series points leader, David Jurca. Throughout the next few laps Jurca and Lee were able to work together to gain a few more positions and were now running 6th and 7th with the leaders in sight. With two laps to go the 2nd and 3rd place cars would get together and with tire smoke and dirt blinding the drivers behind them. Andy would barely get through the accident without contact and would gain a position putting him in 6th place with a lap to go. On the last lap Andy built a strong run on 5th place Chris Holeman,and as the two headed down the front straight side by side it appeared as though Andy would clinch the position but timing and scoring would show him in 6th position at the finish losing 5th by four thousands of a second. With yet another strong top ten finish Andy would move up to 5th in the points standings.
Two weeks after Portland the series would head back to the east coast to Lime Rock Raceway in Connecticut. During the first round of practice Andy Lee was 6th fastest and was looking forward to a good qualifying session. Unfortunately Andy and several other drivers had serious tire issues that forcedhim to pit and he would miss the rest of the session. Qualifying was once again very tight with the top 21 drivers within a second and because of the tire problem Andy would have to start 13th. Andy was still confident that he could finish well and gain more valuable points. On the start Andy was able to grab two positions right away and on the following lap Andy would break into the top ten with plenty of time to continue forward. Nearly every other lap Andy would gain another position and soon found himself in contention for 6th place. It looked like a top five finish was within grasp until a caution came out with only a handful of laps to go. Because of the caution the field grouped back up andthe last few laps would be very interesting. With two laps to go Andy was hit on the inside in turn one and knocked out of the race putting an end to a otherwise strong showing.
After the DNF Andy will slip down to 13th in points but not out of the championship by any means with four races left anything can happen. The next race will be at Iowa International Raceway on September 19ththru 21st.
For all other information on the series please visit vwmotorsportusa.com and stay tuned to Speed Channel since all races will air on Saturday afternoons starting around Thanksgiving.
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