Jetta TDI #5 races to qualify at Petit Le Mans.

Back to my beloved TDI.  This time not the expensive Audi’s, but Volkswagen’s Jetta TDI’s swoop relatively quietly and gracefully around the track in the first all-diesel race series in North America.  Designed as the latest in VW’s young racer development series, it started in 2008 as a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) sanctioned series.  Over ten events, young up and coming drivers, ages 16-26, specially selected to participate in the program compete on eight road courses in identical factory-prepared clean diesel Jeta TDIs (running on B5 diesel fuel here).  At the end of the season, each driver earns a pro racing license from SCCA and the series champion wins $100,000. Taken home for 2009 by Timmy Megenbier after the Road Atlanta race.  Worth the work and the dedication. 

#24 Jetta TDI heads to the locker room after evening qualifying to get ready for the morning race. So does the DC United car of guest driver and Aerosmith guitarist, Brad Whitford.

In the spirit of green racing, the Jetta TDIs are slightly modified from stock for racing and safety.  Essentially, they represent what you and I could buy to run around the local beltway.  Now that clean diesel is available in the US, watch for Jetta TDI’s at your local VW dealer.

Jetta TDI representing for DC United soccer.

The Jetta TDI crew follows.

Watching the hour-long Jetta qualifying was a bit strange.  Usually the GT cars approach turns with belches and blasts and all kinds of noise that makes me wonder if they are really going to blow up this time.  It’s just the downshifting and braking, but to an untrained ear, the abrupt change in engine tones adds to the anxiety known as the excitement of a race.  So, if you really like all the noise at those turns, watching a Jetta TDI race will take some getting used to. 

Like the Audi’s, the sound is more restrained, consistent.  As you watch, you can concentrate on the drivers’ skill in maneuvering through the curves, accelerating up the steep hills, braking and changing gears in the turns.  I enjoyed it so much I wanted to find out more about the class.  We hadn’t seen these cars in the paddock (the prototypes get all the good spots), so we followed them as they found their way home.  And followed, and followed, almost giving up.  Past the end of the last lowly part of the paddock, around corners, up and down hills.  A building around the next corner in the gathering darkness.  The cars were lining up for the night to be prepared for the morning race. 

I located Adam Hoover, manager for strategic communications for Automotive Events.  We joined drivers and their families gearing down, replaying parts of the race, trying to contain their nerves hearing that rain was forecast for the morning’s race. 

We talked with 19 year old driver Ryan Ellis, his family and friends. They live in our neck of the woods along the Appalachian mountains.  Imagine traveling all over the country -from Utah to Ohio to Virginia to Ontario, Canada, to watch your kid’s competition.  A third-generation driver, Ryan began competing in quarter midgets at age 4 and has state championships and national titles to his credit.

A bit older was a guest driver who joined the race for the fun of it.  During the evening qualifying, the announcer hailed the driver of the DC United car, guitarist Brad Whitford of Aerosmith, an avid amateur race car driver for many years.   I thanked him for driving for our home soccer team, also sponsored by VW.  Brad was having a good time learning to race the Jetta TDI, something he’d never done before.  At last year’s Petit Le Mans, he watched the race.  This year he was on the other side of the fence and clocked his fastest lap at 1:51.355 (82.115 mph) compared to the pole time of 1:41.158 (90.393 mph).

As he said later, “I’ve done some racing in the past, but today was a totally different experience for me.  During the first session, I just wasn’t comfortable, but thanks to the help of the other drivers and the series instructors, I was able to make some big strides in qualifying and had a lot of fun in the car. I wasn’t nearly as quick as some of these young guns, but I was able to stay on track for the most part and didn’t ruin anyone else’s day, so I consider today a success.”

Brad Whitford shares driving experiences with a Jetta TDI Cup competitor after the qualifying session at Petit Le Mans.

That’s the spirit of these races, to teach, train and give new valuable experiences to drivers.  To compete well-and to learn sportsmanship.  For more information on driver selection and training, click here.   

As to green racing, I learned that the TDI engine’s “common rail” direct injection system reduces sooty emissions by 95 % and provides better fuel mileage than gasoline engines.  The Jetta TDI was awarded Green Car Journal’s “2009 Green Car of the Year.”  If you are thinking of buying, VW TDIs are classified as Advanced Lean Technology Vehicles which means a $1300 federal income tax credit.   Even the Jetta TCI Cup’s equipment transport vehicles and generators are powered by special synthetic 5% biodiesel and the series takes other environmentally conscientious measures in its effort to be a “racing series that is truly green start to finish.”