MINI USA AND THE MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS RACE TEAM EXCEL WITH THREE FIRST PLACE FINISHES AT VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Woodcliff Lake, NJ,  June 26, 2023. MINI USA and the MINI John Cooper Works Team continued their excellent performance streak in the 2023 SRO TC America, trouncing the competition with three first place finishes at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) this weekend, as the 2023 race season crosses the halfway mark. Clay Williams swept the weekend for his fourth consecutive win in four races, showing his mastery of the #60 MINI JCW PRO to dominate the Touring Car (TC) class, and maintaining his current place as leader in the Driver’s Championship in the TC class. P.J. Groenke, driving the #62 MINI JCW, took home his first victory of the season with a first place finish in Race 2 for the Touring Car A (TCA) class.

The Brownsburg, Ind. -based LAP Motorsports team, which operates the MINI JCW Team, was supported this weekend by four qualified MINI Dealer technicians, working alongside the team during practice, qualifying and race days as part of the MINI Technician Race Crew Program. The four dealer technicians are from dealers in the Southern and Eastern Regions, including one each from Flow MINI in Winston-Salem, N.C., MINI of West Chester in West Chester, Pa., and two from Hendrick MINI in Charlotte, N.C. Each of them supported the team for the entire weekend at Virginia International Raceway. 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.

“It’s an incredible feeling to come away with so many first place finishes in one race weekend,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports. “This team continues to impress me, and I’m so excited to see what we can achieve through the remainder of the season.”
 
This performance is a step up from the success seen last season at VIR, where Clay Williams took third place in Race 1 and Cristian Perocarpi took third place in Race 2. The team finished last season as the 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 2022 season in 2nd place in the Driver’s Championship in the TC class.
 
The next race of the 2023 SRO TC America series is August 18 – 20 at Road America in Plymouth, Wis.
 
2023 SRO TC America

• March 30 – April 2:             Sonoma Raceway - COMPLETE
• April 28 - 30:                       NOLA Motorsports Park - COMPLETE
• May 19 – 21:                      Circuit of the Americas - COMPLETE
• June 16 – 18:                     Virginia International Raceway - COMPLETE
• August 18 – 20:                  Road America
• September 22 – 24:           Sebring International Raceway
• October 5 – 8:                    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 104 MINI full passenger car sales and service dealers 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.