Volkswagen and SCCA have announced the schedule for the brand new 2008 Volkswagen Jetta TDI cup. This will be the first time the spec series is brought to American soil. The series has been previously run in Europe, South Africa, and Japan. The aim of the program is to help amateur drivers make a career out of motorsport. There will be 8 races through 2008, winning a race gets you $1,500. Winner of the series receives $100k, and if you are picked up for a professional ride within 6 months of the last race, you receive $250k…but all that prize money & potential fame will cost you: $35,000 entry fee!
The series will be ‘green friendly’, meaning the race cars will not produce emissions. The cars will be brand new Volkswagen Jetta TDI’s, equipped with a 2.0L 4-cylinder turbo-diesel engine rated @ 170hp/300ft-lb, DSG autoshift transmissions, FIA approved rollcage, racing bucket seat, 5 or 6pt safety harnesses, r-compound tires, and other race car accessories. The series will be sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing. The series will be a support race during the weekends of popular events like Grand-Am, Speed World Challenge, Champ Car, NASCAR, and the American Le Mans Series. So, expect to see decent media exposure of the TDI cup.
After I signed up in late January for the original Feb 1st deadline, VW then changed the application deadline date to Feb 29th. Bastards. VW will choose 100 candidates for a driving test/personality evaluation in Phoenix, Arizona on April 3-6. Only the top 30 drivers chosen from the test will be eligible to compete in series. If any of the 30 selected drivers cannot fulfill their obligation, VW will have 10 reserve drivers on hand. Through some miracle if I were to be selected, out of the thousands who have applied, how would I be able to afford the entrance cost? Um yea…I’m still figuring that out myself. Anyone wanna sponsor me?
2008 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Schedule
| Date | Track | With |
| April 25-27 | Virginia International Raceway | Grand-Am / SPEED Touring Car |
| May 17-18 | Mosport International Raceway | Canadian Touring Car / MX-5 Cup |
| July 4 – 6 | Grand Prix of Toronto | Champ Car |
| July 25-27 | Portland International Raceway | Star Mazda / MX-5 Cup |
| Aug 14-17 | Lime Rock Park | NASCAR Camping World Series |
| Sept. 19-20 | Iowa Speedway | USAR Hooters Pro Cup |
| Sept. 27-28 | New Jersey Motorsports Park* | SPEED World Challenge/ARCA |
| Oct. 1-3 | Road Atlanta | ALMS / SPEED World Challenge |
* – double event
If you are interested, hurry and make your video and submit it by the February 29th deadline:
http://www.vw.com/vwhype/motorsport/en/us/#/jetta_tdi_cup/
more info from SCCA:
http://scca.org/contentpage.aspx?content=105
and VW Motorsport:
