Last year, Speed Arena ran an excellent feature of articles written by Josh Hurley chronicling his ups and downs on the way to becoming inaugural Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Champion. Reading his story convinced me this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, and a few months later, here I am, getting ready for the first race of the 2009 Season. I can’t promise I will match his success on the track, but I’m hoping by sharing my own trials and tribulations I can convince someone else to take the plunge next year.
Launched in 2008 and labelled the World’s Greenest Racing Series, the TDI Cup pits 30 Up-and-Coming drivers against each other in identical factory prepared Jetta TDI race cars. The series will be contested over 10 rounds across North America, supporting Grand-Am and ALMS Events, culminating with the finale at the Petit Le Mans in September. Based on a 2009 Jetta TDI Sedan, the TDI Cup Car is lightly modified from stock and the 2.0L Diesel engine will consume less than 2 full tanks of BioFuel during the entire season.
Volkswagen started the series to promote the performance of their new Turbo Diesel, but also as a boost to their young driver development program. The level of support and involvement from a major manufacturer gives the TDI Cup drivers an opportunity unlike any other “feeder-series” at a fraction of the cost. With all 10 races being shown on Speed Channel, and the series champion walking away $100,000 richer, this could be the big break for any of the 30 competitors.
Over the course of the season I will be telling my story as I leave the office chair behind to try and make a name for myself in the world of Professional Auto Racing.
First a little background about me and how I ended up here. My name is Jake Thompson, and I am a 23 year old originally from Calgary, AB Canada. I currently work as a Mechanical Engineer in Vancouver, BC although hopefully I’ve taken the first step to a career in motorsports. Outside of racing I’m a huge sports fan (go Flames go) and try to spend as much time as possible playing hockey, golf or going skiing. I grew up an absolute Formula 1 fanatic from as early as I can remember. I’ve yet to meet anyone else who was Gerhard Berger for Halloween in pre-school, but that was me. At the time my dad was racing Formula Fords around Canada and I got my first exposure to the race track, complete with a bottle of windex and car washing duties. When I was 12 I took my first laps in a kart and I was hooked. My career started at the Calgary Kart Racing Club, but before long we were racing all across the Pacific Northwest, and becoming very familiar with the menu at Denny’s (the strawberry Belgian waffles will always be dinner in my books).
Like most of the kids I was racing against, I had a single goal, Formula 1. My karting career kept moving forward, and soon I was racing in the top series in North America. I managed a handful of podium finishes and in 2004 I won the Canadian National Championships, but that big break everyone is looking for always seemed like it was a couple of wins away. Any sports fan can tell you about the point in your early twenties, when you realize the athletes you’ve spent your life aspiring to be are all of a sudden younger than you are. For me, watching guys my age in F1 while I was still racing karts was a pretty sobering moment. By the time I finished my second year at the University of British Columbia, my hopes of becoming World Driving Champion seemed all but gone, and I started to accept my impending real world career.
That summer, I packed my bags and headed to Europe on the traditional backpacking trip that’s become almost a rite-of-passage for so many college students. Of course, for me, Europe meant the heart of motorsports, and I wasn’t going pass up the chance to see some of the world’s most historic races. For 50 Euro’s I paid off a couple of understanding police officers who let me watch the Monaco GP from a hill over Rascasse, but it was the 24 Hours of Le Mans that really had an effect on me. As I mentioned before, I grew up a bit of an open wheel snob, and while I was a fan of all racing, nothing but F1 really captured my imagination. That all changed at Le Mans. As I watched the cars scream under the Dunlop Bridge at 2 in the morning, I remember being blown away by the unique beauty that is the 24 hours. I left France with a new appreciation for sportscar racing and new desire to race anything that I could get my hands on. (Quick note for anyone going to Le Mans: Don’t spend 4 hours sitting in the hot sun trying to reserve a good seat for the start. At exactly 2 minutes before the green flag you will be swarmed by 50,000 Europeans with a completely different concept of personal space, guaranteeing that you won’t be able to see anyway)
In 2007, I finished my Engineering Degree and headed off into the working world. I managed a few kart races when I could get the time off, but for the most part racing stayed on the back burner as I tried to figure out where I was going with my life. Last December I got an email with information about applying for the 2009 VW Jetta TDI Cup. I knew a little bit about the series, as an old karting friend (David Jurca) had raced in it the year before, and it seemed like a good opportunity, so I dug a little deeper. A quick google search led me to Josh Hurley’s series of articles on SpeedArena from last season, and that convinced me to fill out the application. A few weeks later I got an email from Volkswagen saying I was invited to the selection event at Infineon to compete for one of 30 spots in the series. I just needed to come up with the deposit. I made one last phone call to David to make sure I knew what I was getting myself into. With the support of my family, and the realization that my savings account would be empty in a hurry, I sent in my deposit and booked my tickets to San Francisco.
I left Vancouver in the afternoon on Saturday January 31st, with no idea what lay ahead of me. After arriving in San Francisco I picked up my rental car and headed North towards Infineon and a trusty Best Western I knew from my karting days. I snapped a few photos as I crossed the Golden Gate, and after a quick dinner, tried to get some rest, because registration was at 6AM the next morning.
I suppose it was a sign of my nerves that I showed up at 5:20 for day one. Over the next 40 minutes the parking lot began to fill up with nervous and excited competitors. Lots of introductions were made, knowing full well we would have to do it again when it wasn’t pitch black out. At 6 a bus arrived to shuttle us down to registration. I received my credentials and was put in team Red for the selection process. I scanned the room looking for familiar faces from my karting days, but I couldn’t find anyone I knew. As everyone got to know each other it became pretty apparent that I was one of the few people there who only had karting experience. The room was full of different backgrounds; Autocross, Spec Miata, Sport Racers, SCCA, but way fewer Karters then I had expected. I started crossing my fingers that karting would play a big part of the evaluation process.
As I tried to calm myself down, I took the time to appreciate what a first class program Volkswagen had put together. They had brought a huge crew of people to make sure that the weekend went off perfectly including driving instructors Jan Heylen, Mark Miller, and Ryan Arciero. Clark Campbell, head of Volkswagen of America Motorsport was on hand to open up the selection weekend, while we all enjoyed breakfast from the top notch catering. After breakfast we were introduced to Kelly who would be in charge of Red group and given our schedule for the day. First up, the kart track.
I had been to the Jim Russell Karting center at Infineon many times before, and had some of my best results ever there so I was feeling pretty confident. After a quick debrief, we suited up and jumped into the karts (Jr. Rotax Max motors on indoor karting tires) for our first session. The track is slippery enough at 7:30 in the morning, but throw the indoor tires into the mix and everyone was sliding all over the place. Before long the corners started coming back to me and I was really trying to pushing the kart. Soon I had the confidence to launch the curbs through 2-3-4 and I could tell I was putting together pretty good laps. We got 3 sessions total at the kart track and I did everything I could knowing that I would really be out of my element in the cars and this is where I needed to show my stuff. We all prodded the judges for feedback but pretty quickly realized that this weekend we were going to have to figure it out on our own, they weren’t saying anything.
We finished the morning with media training and a written test which gave team Red a chance to get to know each other better. Our group consisted of AJ Nealey, Alex Beatty, Perry Richardson (who I might add was the only other guy to show up as early as I did that morning!), Ryan Ellis and myself. It was a solid group of guys both on and off the track, and I knew they would all be pushing me hard for one of the final spots.
The whole group gathered for lunch and the chatter centered on “the returnees”. We had been told that a group of veterans from last year would be arriving the next day, but no one knew how many. Word of mouth put the total at anywhere from 10-20, which obviously makes a huge difference for how many of the final 30 spots would be left for the new guys. You could sense a rivalry forming before the veterans even arrived.
After lunch team Red received a presentation from Clark Campbell on Volkswagen and the TDI Cup. I had a lot of questions about the racecar and it was good to get them all answered. The car starts its life as a regular Jetta on the assembly line at a Volkswagen Factory. Before being fitted with its interior it is pulled off the line and fitted with a custom Recaro racing seat. One of the cool things VW has done to control costs is to use as many parts as possible from within the Volkswagen group. The brakes come from an Audi RS8, while the steering wheel and gearset come from a GTI. The racecar has the same 2.0L Turbo Diesel motor as the streetcar, but a European tuning package bumps the horsepower up to 170hp, and the torque to about 280ft.lbs Finally the car is fitted with a roll-cage, race tuned suspension & differential, and Pirelli tires (new for 09). Throw on the body kit and its ready for the track.
With the sun going down on day one, team Red was the last to hit the autocross track. During lunch I had been watching another group try to hustle the street legal Jetta TDI’s around the cones and there was no shortage of styles to choose from. For the most part autocross was a deafening thunder of tire squeals and wheel chirping, which everything in me thought couldn’t possibly be fast, but everybody driving smoothly seemed to be going way to slow. I went out for my laps trying for just the right amount of squeal, pushing, but trying to keep the wheels from chattering. To this day I still have absolutely no idea how I did, but let’s just say I’m glad there isn’t an autocross on the 2009 schedule.
After a few nerve wracking moments Clark came back on stage to announce the first set of cuts. The first driver invited back for day two of the selection process was.... everyone. Phew, ok, no cuts from day one. I got back to the hotel in time to catch the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl, grabbed some dinner, and headed for bed.
By the time I arrived for Day Two, the returning drivers were already there, complete with a swagger and confidence the rest of us didn’t have. I knew right away the number of veterans was closer to 20 than 10. My own confidence took a further hit when I saw the schedule for the day and couldn’t find ‘karting’ anywhere on it. For the first time so far the nerves were really getting to me.
By Day Two our group had taken on the nickname Big Red, and we welcomed 3 veterans to our group, Chris Holman, Caleb Kenney, and Andrew Cordeiro. Just like the day before we started off with an on track session, this time at an autocross track built around the far end of the dragstrip. The circuit was quite a bit faster than the day before and included a couple of corners from the road course. I went out for my first session trying to be as smooth as possible for the judges. Right away when I came off the track I was worried that I had under driven the car, and a few minutes later I found out I was right. Jan Heylen jumped in for a few laps to show us how it was done. Three minutes of tire squealing and two-wheeling later I knew that I definitely hadn’t been pushing hard enough; I‘d just learned a lot about the line between driving smooth and driving hard. For my second session all I was thinking about was getting after it. Three laps later, I had overshot two braking zones, hit a cone, and had to make several huge corrections but I was happy I at least left it all on the track.
After sponsorship training and a second written test, it was lunch again, but my brain was filled with math. We had figured out that there were 30 new drivers, and 16 returning drivers at the event. We also learned the day before that Volkswagen had decided to reserve two spots for Female drivers (at the time all I could remember thinking was how it hurt my own chances, but after the on track sessions it was clear that both of the girls would have earned their own way into the series). Assuming that all of the veterans would be invited back for another year, I figured out what I was up against, 28 guys competing for 12 spots, this was going to be tough.
We had one final chance to impress the judges on the autocross track, and I knew from the morning I had to push as hard as I could. I kicked up quite a few cones, but I felt like it went better than my earlier session. At that point I was just hoping it was enough, but I had no idea. Everyone else on Big Red had been impressive, and we were all counting on it being one of the strongest groups. I spent the next couple of hours doing a lot of pacing and not much else. The scheduled showed ‘cuts’ to be made at 5:15 but as that time came and went I just got more nervous. Finally the judges arrived carrying a rather ominous yellow envelope. They would be cutting the pack down to 36, which meant 10 guys going home. Clark announced the top 36 would be getting VW Guitars because, and I quote, “we rock”, then out came the envelope.
I was counting on my fingers as they called out names. At ‘ten’ I was out of fingers but still in my seat, 11, 12, 13... Finally at number 17 I was called. Relief, excitement, I knew tomorrow I would be headed out on a full sized race track for the first time in my life! As I took my spot on the podium I looked back at my table where Big Red had been sitting to root for my buddies. In the end all of us except Alex were in the top 35, and I was absolutely gutted for him. It was awesome to hear him say that he would be practicing hard all year and back to try again in 2010.
Before I had time to think we were ushered into our first briefing. Jan gave us the rundown on what to expect the next day, and we got rulebooks and info from the SCCA. By the time we left the briefing there was sparkling new gear from Oakley waiting for all of us. I’ve always been a bit of a nerd for racing gear (helmets, gloves etc) so I was excited to throw on the new stuff. It was after 8 o’clock by the time we had all been fitted to the race cars, and I left the track reminding myself that the toughest cuts were yet to come.
Day 3 started out with an early morning track walk to get everyone familiar with the layout at Infineon Raceway. We were running on the Nascar layout with a couple of other tweaks to keep us away from the walls where possible. Even though I had been hanging around the track for a few days, I still wasn’t prepared for just how steep the hill was going from 1 up to 2. As we made our way around the track Jan made sure to give everyone a little extra advice for the infamous esses, the last thing they wanted was a car in the wall. Still, everyone was buzzing about trying to get through there flat.
For Day 3 we were broken up into 4 groups of 9 for our on track sessions. Each group would get 2 sessions, a 15minute lead follow with Jan out front controlling the pace, and then a 15minute open lapping session to prove our worth. Are you kidding me I was thinking? My lifetime experience in a race car equalled one day driving a F2000 car on a kart track, 7 years ago, in the rain no less! No I find out we were only getting one open session to get up to speed before final cuts! I was in the final group for the lapping session and my nerves were building as I paced up and down the pit wall waiting my turn. I watched as a number of drivers including a few of the veterans spun the cars, and then just as I was getting ready to head out someone had a big off into the wall at the esses. Clearly the cool morning track temperature was causing everyone problems… more pressure. I didn’t want to join the Andre De Cesaris All-Stars in my very first session.
I tried to settle my nerves as the mechanics pulled the belts tight and I ran through my series of checks; traction control off, mirrors ok, belts ok, set the steering wheel position, transmission to sport mode. A tap on the right paddle to select first gear and I was off. I wasn’t even out of the pits and I could tell this was a lot different than the production Jetta’s from the autocross track. Between the extra power and the weight reduction I could feel the kick in the pants as I put my foot down and accelerated out of the pits and up the hill to turn 2. Nice and easy up over the crest through 3a & 3b and then a blast of power in 3rd then 4th gear down towards the Nascar cut-off. First chance to get on the big brakes I had heard so much about and I could feel the car stand up on the front wheels, belts holding me in the seat. Down into the Esses for the first time I can remember thinking “Im supposed to do this flat!!!!” clearly I needed a few more laps. Jan kept a conservative pace for the lead follow, and I just tried to get comfortable with the brakes and gear changes while focusing on my lines. I wasn’t going to push the car yet because I knew a meeting with the wall would end my chances. After 8 or 9 laps my first stint was over, car in one piece, but my confidence fragile knowing I still hadn’t come close to finding the limits and my next session the only chance to impress the judges.
There was a quick driver’s briefing where we caught an earful for the number of cars that had ended up facing the wrong way. My group was first up for the next session, so I climbed back into the white #18 that I had been assigned. The plan was to do 3 more laps behind Jan and then he would pull in and we would be off. I was lined up 2nd in my group and by the third lap I felt like I was really having to push just to keep up with the pace Jan was setting, which worried me until I checked my mirrors and realized the rest of the group had dropped off. When Jan pulled in at the end of that lap I set off trying to catch the one driver still in front of me. Flat out through turn 1 for the first time, up the hill into 2, on the gas early through 3, brake late and carry as much speed as possible through the Nascar cut off. Into the esses, and just a slight breathe of the gas, I hard work left to get that flat. After a couple laps I was right on the bumper of the car in front of me which was huge for my confidence as he waved me past. Now I really had to put my foot down, I tried to brake as late as possible for the chicane…. Wait where was my braking point?! I had been chasing someone else every lap so far and using them as my braking reference, lesson learned. Now I was in way to deep, locked up, trying to steer through the ABS… THUMP, I launched over the kerb in the second half of the chicane, That was ugly! I had to make up for it, so I tried to get on the gas nice and early in the hairpin… but oops, too hard, power understeer, off the gas to stay out of the wall, another mistake. I realized I better relax a little bit and finished the session with two smooth laps, clocking a 1:28.4 on my final circuit.
As I pulled into the pits I felt pretty happy with how things went considering my experience, I had managed to pass another car and stay out front of my session. As we climbed out of the car everyone started chatting lap times, and I started getting worried. The top veterans (Mark Pombo, Caleb Kenney, Andy Lee, Chris Holman) had been running high 1:26’s, which was ok, I didn’t expect to be at their pace right off the bat, but everyone else was talking about how much it helped to chase one of them around. Suddenly, running out front didn’t seem like it was that great of an idea, I should’ve tried to follow one of the vet’s and see what I could learn. I knew I had run decent times but were they good enough? I started doing math again, there were 18 new guys left, and they had to cut 6 more.
As we gathered in the hospitality area for final cuts, I could feel my heart going like crazy. I had been reasonably confident the day before that out of the 30 new drivers I would make it through to the final 18, but I would need to be in the top 12 to make it through today, and given the quality and experience of my competitors I knew it would be tough. Clark entered the room with the ominous yellow envelope again and informed us that today there would be no chance to celebrate and no presentation of guitars or other gifts. If our name was called we were to head straight to a briefing, if not, it all ended there. I had my fingers ready to start counting again, and by the third name I realized it was the same order as yesterday (minus the cuts). I knew if my count got to 17 I was in trouble. 13,14… ‘Jake Thompson’! I was a TDI Cup driver.
I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the briefing, stopping to hear the rest of the names on my way out. All of the remaining members of Big Red were through too, as well as a few other guys I had become friends with over the previous days. I snuck in a quick phone call to my dad & girlfriend and then took a seat in the briefing room. There was definitely a different buzz, as for the first time in 3 days we could all relax. The driving instructors came in and congratulated us on the making it through, and then let loose with all of the criticism they had been holding back! It actually felt good to finally hear what I was doing wrong instead of always guessing about what I should do different in my next session. We had two more sessions that afternoon, a simulated qualifying and a simulated race, and I couldn’t wait to get in the car with the pressure off.
I can’t describe how awesome that next session was, but I know I was smiling ear to ear as I pumped out lap after lap. For the time being the stress was gone, and I could sit back and enjoy how much fun the race car was. The brakes are superb, and the car turns in exactly where you want it to (I know, I know a FWD is supposed to understeer but it just didn’t). The biggest adjustment for me was just feeling out the weight transfer, something completely foreign coming from 300lbs karts. Especially in the esses I had to get used to loading up one side of the car and waiting for the weight to settle out before flicking it back the other way.
I qualified 6th out of 10 in my group and 19th overall with a time of 1:28.0, not bad considering the 16 veterans, but I was a little disappointed. For the past week all I had cared about was making the top 30, but as soon I made it my mindset switched. I didn’t try out for the series just to make it, I’m here to win.
As I got belted in for our mock-race, the mechanic accidentally bumped the extinguisher and before I could get out the back of my suit was filling up with white foam! I rolled out of the car to see the whole pit lane bent over laughing, but really, if you had told me at the start of the day the worst thing that would happen was getting covered by a fire extinguisher I think I would have taken it. I ended up missing my race, but they sent me out at the back of the pack with the final group of the day. I took my grid spot and went through the launch control procedure. 1st gear, foot on the brake, bring the rev’s up to 3000, then the lights were out and we were off. I got a good launch and looked inside of the car ahead into turn 1, but thought better of it, just a mock race I told myself. I felt justified two corners later as a couple of cars got together. I managed to avoid any contact, but saw one car take a serious bounce off the tires. That was enough to convince me not to try anything. I was quite a bit faster then the cars in front so I backed way off to give myself a gap and tried to put together some good laps. A 1:27.5 flashed across my dash as I took the chequered flag. That wound up being the 2nd fastest time in my group and 10th fastest overall. 4 sessions into my car racing career I left the track that night feeling really good about how things had gone. I joined fellow Big Red member Perry Richardson and his family for a celebratory dinner, and then for the first time on my trip went to bed feeling relaxed!
I’ll spare you the gory details of our fitness testing from Athlete’s performance, other than to tell you that I scored well during our cardiovascular workout, but also have the distinction of being the least flexible driver in the TDI Cup! (As a good Canadian kid I have dislocated my shoulders way too many times playing hockey). After 4 incredibly draining days, the 2009 Selection Event had come to a close. After lots of handshakes, I was headed back to the airport for my 8PM flight to Vancouver. Somehow I managed to get all of my new gear onto the plane (shoes, gloves, nomex, defeNder head restraint, guitar) and a few hours later I touched down in Vancouver just before midnight. By 8am the next morning it was back to work, and back to the real world… for now at least.
It has been a whirlwind two months since I arrived home from the selection event. I got my website (http://www.jakethompson.ca) up and running and have had the pleasure of chasing sponsors during the worst recession in recent memory. There have been a lot more no’s then yes’s from my prospects, but I’m not letting that discourage me. Volkswagen has done such a good job of preparing us for these types of situations and I continue to work hard trying to understand how I can provide value for possible sponsors. This hard work is all part of making it in motorsports, which is the great thing about the TDI Cup, it is more than a race series, they’re teaching us how to becoming professionals.
The first race is a doubleheader at VIR April 24th-26th as part of the Rolex Sports Car Series event. I am heading into the weekend with some realistic goals for my first ever car race: Qualify in the top 15, Finish both races, and get a top 10 finish. I know that this one is going to be tough for me as the series visited VIR in 2008 which will be a big advantage to the Veterans. A number of the new drivers are also locals to the area with extensive experience at the track, so I have to make sure I keep a positive attitude and don’t get too discouraged by the first race. I am training hard on Iracing.com so hopefully it pays off. Our second event takes us to Miller Motorsports Park, which is going to be new for everyone, so by then I have every intention of being up front fighting for the win.
This opportunity wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support I have received from so many people. First and foremost my family who have done so much to make this possible, and my girlfriend who convinced me to stop talking about racing all the time and actually sign up for this. I would also like to thank Joey Guyon and everyone from the Overdrive karting team (www.odkarts.com) as well as Tony Morris Jr. from Morrisport Advanced Driving in Vancouver who is helping me get ready for the first race. Of course a huge thank you to everyone at Volkswagen Motorsport who make this series possible and finally all my friends and other supporters who are along for the ride.
During race weekends I will be keeping a short blog on my website to keep my millions of fans (ok, an exaggeration) up to date on the live action. Look out for a new journal here on Speed Arena shortly after each event where I’ll be giving everyone a behind the scene’s look at the TDI Cup. In addition to the race action, I’ll try to keep you updated with as much as possible from the Rolex and ALMS paddock, as well as everything and anything else going on at the track. Also, if you’re at the track don’t be afraid to head over to the Volkswagen Hospitality area to say hi, I’d be happy to show you around the cars and answer any questions about the series.
Wish me luck,
Jake Thompson
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