Pombo Leads Wire to Wire to Take the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Win at Mosport

Megenbier increases his Championship lead to 39 points

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Aug. 30 -- Mother Nature returned to challenge the 26 drivers competing in today's Round 7 of the SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup at Mosport International Raceway. Overnight rain left the 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course wet and loaded with puddles, which led series officials to run the race on rain tires.

Despite the wet conditions, pole sitter and Duluth, Georgia native, Mark Pombo didn't waste any time in setting the pace for the race and building a 12-second lead at the half-way point. However, he wouldn't be without challenge. Timmy Megenbier and Andrew Cordeiro cut the lead down to just a few seconds in the closing laps of the race, but today was Pombo's day. He held on to win his first Jetta TDI Cup race of the season and his second career series win. He is the fifth different driver to win this season, and the victory moves him into fourth place in the Championship standings.

"Wow, what a great weekend," Pombo said. "To be able to be fast in every session and lead every lap is the way that I would have dreamed up this weekend. My only regret is that this kind of performance wasn't earlier in the season. It feels good to get a win, though. During the race, I wanted to get out to a lead so that I could protect my tires. I knew that as the track dried, we would start to use up our rain tires very quickly, and we don't have an option to change to slicks during the race. Everything went according to plan, and the guys behind me caught me a bit. Fortunately, I was able to hang on."

Megenbier and Cordeiro battled for the last half of the race with the two swapping positions several times. When the checkered flag fell, it was Megenbier coming in second and Cordeiro third, marking Megenbier's sixth podium appearance in seven races. It's also the first podium appearance of the season for local driver Andrew Cordeiro who hails from Woodbridge, Ontario.

The race results didn't have a major effect on the Championship standings, as Megenbier still maintains the lead with 266 points. He's trailed by Andy Lee (227), Joey Atterbury (223), Pombo (192) and Jake Thompson (191).

The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series' next race is at New Jersey Motorsports Park, where Rounds 8 & 9 will take place September 11-13.

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 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.

NOTE TO EDITORS: * Series photos available upon request or via media.vw.com