Up-and-coming young racers rolling with Michelins during debut clean diesel VW competition

French-made Michelin tubeless radial “slicks and rains” tires have been affixed to clean diesel VWs in special racing series highlighting environmentally conscious youthful drivers. A season-ending finale is set for Oct. 4-5 at Road Atlanta in Georgia.

The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series, which debuted this year, entails 30 factory-prepared and managed 2009 clean diesel Jetta TDIs piloted by talented up-and-coming drivers aged 16 to 26. “Volkswagen’s goal is to find the driver with the most talent and help them break into the world of professional motorsports,” explains company spokesman Shand Spencer.

The event is the first all-clean diesel racing series is sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing. Each of the cars is outfitted with size 24/64-18 Michelins bearing an 8.5-inch tread.

Liam Kenney of Sterling, Va., repeated his appearance on the Jetta TDI Cup podium Sept. 28 race by securing a first place victory in race two of the double header weekend. Kenney, 16, placed third in Saturday’s race after routinely placing in the top ten of the field and is poised to begin the last race of the season at Road Atlanta this weekend. Josh Hurley of Cooper City, Fl. and Chris Holman from Burlington, Ont., Canada joined Kenney on the podium in second and third places respectively.

The Michelin tires did the job, according to the drivers.

“I was a little nervous going out there on slicks in the wet, but the Jetta TDI never let me down and I thought the race was great,”says Kenney. “I went out there and concentrated on not making any mistakes, and not putting any wheels off, and am really excited to have my first win in the cup series and to have done it with Volkswagen.”

Under wet conditions last weekend, the racers rode on slick tires, and beginning from a rolling start. Drivers battled the conditions early on and faced running under caution flags twice in the 30-minute sprint race, including the finish that was completed under a yellow flag.

The points championship still very much up for grabs this weekend.

Also, Volkswagen is providing its Electronic Stability Program (ESP) as standard equipment on all of VW’s 2009 models. “As a result, Volkswagen is one of the only original equipment manufacturers to offer an electronic stability control system on their entire product line -- ahead of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) deadline requiring vehicles in the 2012 model year to include stability control systems,” says Spencer. Volkswagen’s ESP technology works in conjunction with anti-lock brakes and helps reduce loss of control and rollovers to avoid crashes, he notes, adding that NHTSA believes nearly 10,000 lives could be saved each year if automakers included stability systems as standard equipment.

For more information, visit www.michelin.com and www.vw.com.