Press release

MINI USA AND THE MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS RACE TEAM FINISH 2022 SEASON AS RUNNER UP IN MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP IN BOTH TC AND TCA CLASSES

Clayton Williams captures 2nd place in Drivers Championship in Touring Car class

Woodcliff Lake, NJ,  October 13, 2022. MINI USA and the MINI John Cooper Works Team completed the 2022 SRO TC America series this weekend at the team’s home track – Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While the weekend was challenging for the team, the season finale was bittersweet following a great season that landed the team as runner up for the Manufacturer’s Championship in both the Touring Car (TC) and Touring Car A (TCA) classes. Clay Williams, driver of the #60 MINI JCW Pro, also finished the season in 2nd place in the Driver’s Championship in the TC class.
 
The Brownsburg, Ind. -based LAP Motorsports team, which operates the MINI JCW Team, demonstrated almost every race weekend that they were a force to be reckoned with in a series where organizers added new cars to the field to help balance to the performance and competition on the track in both classes. Throughout the 2022 season, the team secured seven wins and a total of 14 podiums.
 
“This season was challenging as we saw several new cars entered into the field in an attempt to equal the balance of performance in the series,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports. “I am so proud of our entire team and especially our talented drivers who used their skills to get every ounce of performance out of our MINI JCWs to secure podiums almost every weekend.”
 
The MINI John Cooper Works race team has been showing their strenght and talent throughout the season. Clay Williams piloted the #60 MINI JCW Pro to two podium finishes in the season opener at Sonoma and a win at NOLA Motorsports Park. The team also took two podiums at VIR, two wins at Watkins Glen and a full sweep of both TC and TCA classes at Road America. Williams also took two podiums at Sebring last month.
 
“All three full time drivers were amazing this season. We would not have had the success that we did without their amazing skills and determination,” added Perocarpi.
This season’s team consisted of three full time drivers, including Clayton Williams in the #60 MINI JCW Pro in the TC class, Cristian Perocarpi in the #61 MINI JCW and PJ Groenke in the #62 MINI JCW, both in the TCA class. The MINI JCW team regulars were joined by team owner Luis Perocarpi in the #64 MINI JCW for two races – Sebring and Indianapolis.  Bruce Myrehn and MINI Canada’s Alain Lauziere also each joined one race in the #63 MINI JCW.
 
The MINI JCW team was supported this weekend by six qualified MINI Dealer technicians, working alongside the team during practice, qualifying and race days as part of the MINI Technician Race Crew Program. The six dealer technicians were from dealers in the Central Region, including one from MINI of Omaha, one from Dreyer and Reinbold MINI in Indianapolis, two from MINI of Fort Wayne and two from Cincinnati MINI. Each of them supported the team for the entire weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 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 (COMPLETE)
  • September 23 – 25:           Sebring International Raceway (COMPLETE)
  • October 7– 9:                     Indianapolis Motor Speedway (COMPLETE)


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.