Perks of the Job Trek Factory Racing Team Jetta Oct 22, 2003 | by: George Achorn
There are certain people who have jobs that make others green with envy. Ernie Martin, in charge of the Trek/VW Factory Mountain Bike Teams, is one such individual. As if getting paid to be out there on the professional mountain bike racing circuit isn’t cool enough, Ernie gets to help promote his main sponsors such as Volkswagen, Oettinger/CEC and JBL/Harman Kardon by driving around in a 2003 Jetta GLI displaying the latest from each of these fine companies.
Follow Ernie around an event, as we were invited to do at a recent race in Philadelphia, and you’ll learn Ernie isn’t the type of guy to simply latch onto a great situation and ride along. The guy is a mover and a shaker and is definitely the creator of his own great situation.
Ernie first approached us last summer in our booth at Waterfest 2003 where he was co-promoting with CEC. You could see the gears moving in his head with the speed of the cogs on the Trek mountain bike of World-Champion Trek/VW factory rider Chris Etough. Having just met us, Ernie was looking for a way to help promote his team and our publication in a way that would be beneficial for all.
If you’ve spotted Trek/VW Factory Team coverage on VWvortex, or perhaps seen the VWvortex link over at the Trek Factory Team website (www.trekfactoryteam.com), then you’ve already been exposed to some of the fruits of Ernie’s labor. He is a promoter, and he is thoroughly aggressive in achieving and completing his job.
Back in Philadelphia, we arrived and couldn’t miss the large Trek trailer, tents, team Eurovan or the tuned silver Jetta that sat next to their display. As team star Chris Etough lapped his closest competitors that day, Ernie gave us a closer look at the Jetta. The car is Ernie’s personal car: a 2003 GLI that he uses for display at events.
Styling and Performance by Oettinger
More recently, German tuning house Oettinger and CEC (Oettinger’s US distributor) came on as sponsors of the VW/Trek Factory team. As part of the promotion CEC decided to kick the GLI up a notch, building it out as a rolling example of the Oettinger line.
As Ernie tells it, the car was delivered to CEC’s store in Teterboro, New Jersey. They took the keys and upon its return, the car was transformed.
On the outside, the car was fitted with full Oettinger body kit, comprised of front and rear lower bumpers, side skirts, roof spoiler, trunk spoiler and rearview mirrors. Additionally, FK Automotive provided a set of their new Bora taillight design to further differentiate the GLI.
18-inch Oettinger 5-spoke alloy wheels with Toyo Proxes F24, 225/40 ZR tires combine a more aggressive look with additionally aggressive handling.
Inside, aluminum abounds. Oettinger pedals, shift knob, dash trim and door sills were all added, and all crafted of the light-weight metal.
As this car does travel quite a bit to varied events over many states, performance upgrades were kept to a conservative level. Oettinger Sport Springs lower the GLI, improving on the car’s already taught factory ride while offering a more aggressive appearance.
Engine modifications have not been made, but an Oettinger exhaust adds a sexy engine note and a few ponies.
Audio by JBL and Harman Kardon
Not to be left out, JBL (a division of Harman International) is also a major sponsor of the team. If the GLI were going to be an exhibition car at these events, it’s only natural to expect it’d have the latest technology from these experts in mobile audio.
The Jetta’s system starts with a Harman Kardon TrafficPro R AM/FM CD Navigation head unit, to keep Ernie in the know as he travels around to various team biking events.
Speakers have been augmented to a JBL P650C 6-1/2" 2-way component system at the front and JBL P652 2-way loudspeaker system at the rear. Driving these speakers is a JBL PX300.4 600 watt peak 4-channel amplifier.
Adding some bass to the car’s impressive sound, JBL chose to include their P1220d Die-cast subwoofer, receiving its own power from a JBL PX600.2 1200 watt peak 2-channel amplifier.
There’s Gotta Be a Bike
And what self-respecting official mountain-bike team display car would be complete without a killer bike displayed alongside, or in this case on top.
A Saris bike rack, with its aerodynamic football-profiled crossbars, holds fast a shining example of the official Trek Factory Team mountain bike.
This Fuel 98 model features fully independent cross-country suspension at a weight Trek advertises equal to most hard-tail competitors (basically, a bicycle with no rear suspension generally implies less weight).
As with racecars, weight is kept down via use of Carbon fiber. Whether it’s on the new Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT, or these Trek Factory Team bikes, the ultra-light and ultra strong compound improves performance through weight savings in a very critical way. In this case, Trek uses it for the main frame and rear suspension triangle sub frame, which helps them stake the bicycle’s claim of being as light as a hard tail.
The highest end components find their way onto these Factory Team Fuel 98s including a pretty impressive suspension system that makes use of a Fox F-80 RLT fork and a Fox Ultralight Float RC at the rear.
Even cooler is modern Mountain Bike’s use of hydraulic disc brakes. Obviously this technology is proven in today’s automobiles, so their use on high-performance mountain bikes simply makes sense.
After shooting the Jetta, Ernie returned it to its parking space by the team’s encampment. He then ushered us out to take a closer look at the course.
You have to walk fast to keep up with Ernie. His rapid pace is not only literal, but it also seems to be the way he conducts his business. You don’t get to the level he has with one of the most successful mountain biking teams in the country without it we suppose.
Seemingly everyone at the race knows him. Those at the water station greeted him with smiles. A competitor fixing his own bike by an early Eurovan pointed out who Ernie was to his girlfriend as we passed.
Ernie definitely moves quickly. It’s fitting then that this GLI be his company car. We’re sure it gets him there and back in the shortest amount of time, allowing him to maximize work hours at his killer job or simply rake in the quality time with his wife, which he proudly shared that he’s been married to for 23 years.
You might see Ernie Martin or his silver GLI at different car shows throughout the season. As previously mentioned, he and the Jetta were there at Waterfest 2003, and they were joined by the Trek Factory stunt team at last May’s Carlisle Compact Nationals. If you spot them, make sure to stop in and say hello.
TEAM BIKE
Frame: Fuel 98 – Fully independent cross-country suspension at a hardtail weight. Carbon fiber Main frame and rear triangle.
Suspension: Front – Fox F-80 RLT fork (80mm travel)
Rear – Fox Ultralight Float RC (3” rear wheel travel)
Wheelset: Bontrager Race Lite Tubeless, strong and fast.
