LATICRETE Sponsors Driver in the World's First "Green" Racing Series

Words: Jared Cooper
/Public/News/20081031092500-1.jpg" width="300" height="200" border="0" alt="LATICRETE sponsored the race car of Taylor Broekemeier in the world's first Green Racing Series.">
LATICRETE sponsored the race car of Taylor Broekemeier in the world’s first “Green” Racing Series.
LATICRETE, a global leader in the manufacturing of innovative systems for the installation of tile and stone, sponsored the race car of Taylor Broekemeier on August 16 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, in race No. 4 of the 2008 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series, an eight event season in the world’s first racing series designed to be “green.”

Broekemeier, a 21-year-old junior at Colorado State University, is the son of Brent Broekemeier, vice president of the Rio Grande Company in Denver, a long-time LATICRETE distributor in the Rocky Mountain region. LATICRETE selected race No. 4 of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup to support Broekemeier in a series designed by Volkswagen to bring an environmentally responsible focus to the world of motor sports. Volkswagen’s goal is to demonstrate that there is a short to medium term solution to harmful vehicle emissions through their clean-diesel fuel technology. The entire race series has been certified carbon-free in a partnership with CarbonFund.org. The factory prepared and maintained 2009 Volkswagen turbo-diesel Jetta gets 25 mpg in racing conditions, and in normal driving conditions will return 36 mpg in the city and 52 highway mpg.

“LATICRETE was more than helpful to me during this entire process,” said Broekemeir. “This was a huge opportunity for me. Ever since I was four-years old I have always wanted to be a race car driver. LATICRETE stepped up financially and helped me reach that goal. I think they had been looking at motor sports in the past but the deciding factor for LATICRETE was the environmentally-friendly aspect of this race. They wanted to know all about the green aspect, and most of the questions they asked after the race were on that topic.”

Despite tire issues in race No. 4, run in conjunction with the NASCAR Camping World Series weekend of races at Lime Rock Park, Broekemeier finished 11th out of 30 drivers, three spots down from his qualifying position of eighth going into the race.

LATICRETE, like Volkswagen, has been an industry leader in supporting environmental causes and the green built environment. LATICRETE was the first tile and stone installation materials manufacturer to obtain GREENGUARD certification for its entire product range. In addition to packaging all of its thin-sets, mortars and grouts in recyclable plastic bags, LATICRETE offers architects, specifiers and builders the opportunity to earn points towards a buildings LEED certification on any project in the continental US by strategically opening manufacturing facilities within a 500 miles radius of each other.
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