VW Jetta: Chris Wehrheim VIR event summary

CHRIS WEHRHEIM VW JETTA TDI CUP VIR REPORT
"Wehrheim exits weekend 5th in points"

Norcross, GA (April 29, 2010) - Chris Wehrheim made his debut in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series this past weekend at Virginia International Raceway. Sharing the stage with Grand-Am the VW Jetta TDI Cup made its third season debut under perfect sunny skies. A full grid of 27 cars took to the track bright and early Friday morning for practice.

The weekend began with the one and only practice session. Chris had a great start to the weekend after practice standing in the top position by a rookie driver in 8th. Both qualifying sessions also took place Friday, Q1 for Race 1 Saturday morning and Q2 for Race 2 on Sunday afternoon. Chris qualified in the 12th position for both races and continued to improve his times.

Saturday began, the sky laden with clouds promising showers, but the rain held off for the morning VW race. Starting in P12 Chris knew he was going to have to seriously bring his 14 years of racing experience to the table in the first crucial seconds of the standing start in the race. And bring them he did, managing to find his way to 6th position before the flock of Jettas made their way to turn 2 on the 3 mile track. Chris held a valiant fight against the front running pack, but did not quite manage to catch them like he had hoped, and after such an impressive start managed to finish strong in 7th position.

After an entire night of downpours the sun came out again Sunday morning, leaving the VW drivers with a dry track again. Chris was not able to re- capture the same start he did the day before, but still managed to fight his way back up to 8th position after falling back to 15th in the opening laps. Though the weekend did not go as hoped, Chris is currently sitting 5th in the standings, which is a great start to the season.

"This was a good opening weekend for me in the VW Jetta TDI Cup and I learned a lot on how I am going to have to change my driving style to adapt to these cars," commented Wehrheim. I have to thank everyone with the series, the coaches, and the mechanics for making it a great weekend even though I am disappointed with my results.

Chris will only have one week off before heading to round three of the championship at New Jersey Motorsports Park May 8-9. Chris is looking to score his first podium finish of the season and move up in the standings in pursuit of the championship.

-source: www.chriswehrheim.com