Press release

MINI USA AND THE MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS RACE TEAM HEAD TO ROAD AMERICA AFTER TWO WINS AT WATKINS GLEN

Woodcliff Lake, NJ,  August 19, 2022. MINI USA and the MINI John Cooper Works Team head to Road America in Elkhart, Wis., for the fifth race weekend of the 2022 SRO TC America series. The team hopes to ride the momentum generated by two victories last month at Watkins Glen International, a race weekend in which the team dedicated their performance to the legendary rally driver Paddy Hopkirk, who passed away right before the start of the race weekend, at age 89. Hopkirk made the iconic red No. 37 Mini Cooper famous with a victory at the 1964 Rallye Monte Carlo.
 
“We had a great weekend at Watkins Glen and the team is ready to use that momentum heading into Road America, a track where we have had great success in the past,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports.
 
Last season, then 19-year-old racer Clayton Williams of Oakley, Calif., piloted the #62 MINI JCW to a third-place finish in Race 1 of the weekend after starting on the front row for the first time in the series. This weekend Williams will pilot the #60 MINI JCW Pro in the Touring Car (TC) alongside teammates Cristian Perocarpi in the #61 MINI JCW and PJ Groenke in the #62 MINI JCW racing in the Touring Car A (TCA) class. Williams and Perocarpi each took home a victory at Watkins Glen last month. Williams also took home a third-place finish in Race 2 on Sunday.
 
The Brownsburg, Ind. -based LAP Motorsports team, which operates the MINI JCW Team, will be supported by two qualified MINI Dealer technicians this weekend, working alongside the team during practice, qualifying and race days as part of the MINI Technician Race Crew Program. The two dealer technicians are from dealers in the Eastern and Central Regions, including one from MINI of Burlington in Vermont and one from International MINI in West Allis, Wisconsin. Each of them will support the team for the entire weekend at Road America. The race team relies on the skill and knowledge of the technicians that work, day to day on MINI, to bring that expertise to the track.

2022 SRO TC America
  • April 15 – 17:                     Sonoma Raceway (COMPLETE)
  • May 20 – 22:                      New Orleans Motorsports Park (COMPLETE)
  • June 17 – 19:                     Virginia International Raceway (COMPLETE)
  • July 22 – 24:                       Watkins Glen International (COMPLETE)
  • August 19 – 21:                  Road America
  • September 23 – 25:           Sebring International Raceway
  • October 7– 9:                     Indianapolis Motor Speedway


About the MINI JCW Team
The MINI JCW Team, operated by LAP Motorsports, drives MINI’s most powerful Hardtop ever in the two-door MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop. The team competes in the fiercely competitive SRO TC America Series. For additional information please visit minijcwteam.com or email luis@minijcwteam.com.
 
About MINI in the US
MINI is an independent brand of the BMW Group. In the United States, MINI USA operates as a business unit of BMW of North America, LLC, located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey and includes the marketing and sales organizations for the MINI brand. The authorized MINI USA dealer organization is represented by a network of 115 locations comprised of 105 MINI full passenger car sales and service dealers and 10 service exclusive outlets located throughout the US.  MINI USA began selling vehicles in the U.S. in 2002 with the introduction of the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S Hardtops. Since then, the MINI Brand in the U.S. has grown to encompass a model range of five unique vehicles.
 
Journalist notes: Media information about MINI and its products is available to journalists on-line at MINIUSANEWS.com.