(October 3, 2010) I can’t believe the season is over and what a great way for it to end – a double race weekend in Mexico! After my early morning flight from Charlotte to Dallas and then to Mexico City, I finally arrived late Thursday afternoon and had a two hour shuttle ride with some of the other drivers to Puebla. It was great to see the city. It is so different from the U.S. with so many unfinished buildings all packed closely together, it really made me realize how blessed I am to live where I do.
Fast-forward to Friday morning. I was up bright and early at 4 a.m. and took the shuttle to the track at 5:20 a.m. We arrived at 6, did our normal early morning meetings and walked the track in the dark! Well almost, the sun was just coming up! Then came the moment I’ve been waiting five weeks for, practice! It was the first time any driver had been on this track except for Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle and Juan Pablo Delgado. It was so different from the tracks we raced on in the States. The track was part oval, part road course, which made it even more fun to drive and I soon realized that to be fast, I had to be patient and the technique of ‘slow in and fast out’ was the order of the day. I was 26th fastest in practice, definitely not what I expected, but I learned a lot on track. Once practice was complete I downloaded my data and went over it with Andy Lee, one of the driver instructors, and pinpointed my problem areas, then it was qualifying time for Race 1!
At Autodromo, AMOZOC qualifying was very important as the track had many tight corners which made passing a little difficult. I went out and drove the wheels off the car but only ended up 27th, a huge disappointment but certainly not a reason to lose hope. After looking at the data I found that in many of the corners I was braking quite a distance further than optimal, which messed up my exits. Since my Karting years I’ve always been a late braker, but it seems that it’s not the best way to drive a front wheel drive car, especially at this track where a lot of the corners require patience. All in all it was still a great time at the track and later in the evening we all got a tour of the VW factory. We got to see the production of the 2011 Jetta which was such an awesome experience. I had never seen anything like it before, only on TV. It was a great end to a great day!
We had another early morning on Saturday and track action started out with our second qualifying. I was really looking forward to getting back on track and making those corrections that I had seen in the data. About half way through, I had a lot of understeer coming out of Turn 5 which leads onto the embankment and I hit the wall. I didn’t do much damage but I did mess up my alignment and therefore parked it. To add insult to injury, I ended up last on the grid but on the bright side the car was ok and I would be able to race later on in the day. Game on!
Starting from 27th on the grid, I had absolutely nothing to lose, but I was a little bit cautious about Turn 1. Thankfully almost everyone made it through and I made up a couple spots, then lost them in Turn 2 as one car spun in the middle of the track and to avoid I hit the grass, but luckily no harm was done. I continued to race on hard, but made a mistake in Turn 2 in the following lap and lost time to those ahead, but as the race went on I caught up and a gained one spot finishing 23rd in Race 1.
Fast-forward to Sunday, the pinnacle of the race weekend and our last day in our TDI Cup Cars for the 2010 Season. There were so many race fans at the track; the official count was 35,800 people. It was awesome to see so many people and I couldn’t imagine how Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle and Juan Pablo Delgado must have felt, being their home race. I have never signed so many autographs or taken so many pictures! We were only suppose to be there for forty five minutes, but we stayed for an hour and a half and we only left because we had a mandatory SCCA meeting.
An hour later we all got ready for our final race of the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series Championship and with five drivers still in the contention for the championship, it was shaping up to be a great race. Everyone knew that it was the last time to show ourselves. The lights were on and then seconds later the race for the championship was on! I got a descent start and made up a few positions, but in Turn 9, I was hit in the right rear and spun around dropping to the very back. Thankfully for some at least, the safety car came out for a car that hit the wall going around the oval – Turn 16, before going onto the front straight – a second chance! As we restarted I had a great fight with a few cars and I was able to make up another spot but certainly not without a fight. I ended up finishing 22nd and the race was won by JD Mobley who also won Race 1 and the 2010 Championship. Later on that evening we had an awards banquet and it was great to see everyone dressed up. We were awarded our SCCA Racing License as we each went up on stage one by one. It was a bitter sweet moment. I finished 25th in the championship, certainly not an indicator of how my season unfolded. I experienced many disappointments, losing out on a lot of good points at Miller Motorsports Park and Autobahn Country Club where I had DNFs, added to many frustrating moments but it doesn’t compare to the experience and knowledge I acquired. It doesn’t compare to the many memories I now have and the many great people I got to work with and the friends I’ve made. I am so grateful for this opportunity given to me by Lyn St. James and Project Podium in association with the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series. I wouldn’t have been here without the support of Jetcon Corporation, the Helle Nice Foundation, my family and my Heavenly Father Who has kept me strong through a trying season. I’m really looking forward to what is in store next year and hopefully I will be back for another season of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series to make a run for the championship! ~Justine Jackson
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Justine Jackson
www.justinejackson.net
justinejackson1990@gmail.com
(876)545-0418 (Jamaica Mobile)
(919)593-4631 (US Mobile)
