MINI USA AND THE MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS RACE TEAM HEAD TO ROAD AMERICA AFTER TAKING HOME THREE WINS AT VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Woodcliff Lake, NJ,  August 18, 2023. MINI USA and the MINI John Cooper Works Team head into the second half of the 2023 SRO TC America at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wis., looking to ride the momentum and success achieved during the first half of the season. The team secured three wins at Virgina International Raceway (VIR) just prior to the midsummer break. Clay Williams swept the weekend for his fourth consecutive win in four races, dominating the Touring Car (TC) class in the #60 MINI JCW PRO and the current leader in the Driver’s Championship in the TC class. MINI USA also leads the manufacturer’s championship in the series.

Cristian Perocarpi will once again join Williams in the TC class for the MINI JCW Team, piloting the #37 MINI JCW PRO after an exciting second place finish in Race 2 at VIR in July. Williams and Perocarpi will joined this weekend by PJ Groenke in the #62 MINI JCW and Bruce Myrehn in the #64 MINI JCW in the Touring Car A (TCA) class. Groenke took home his first victory of the season with a first place finish in Race 2 at VIR in the TCA class.

“We had a perfect race weekend here at Road America last year and this weekend is the start of the second half of our 2023 racing season,“ said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports. “With PJ coming off his first ever TCA class win at VIR, with Clay leading the drivers championship and MINI USA leading the manufacturer’s championship, we are 100% focused on maintaining this performance for the final six races of the year.”

The Brownsburg, Ind. -based LAP Motorsports team, which operates the MINI JCW Team, will be supported this weekend by one qualified MINI Dealer technician, working alongside the team during practice, qualifying and race days as part of the MINI Technician Race Crew Program. The dealer technician, Miguel Ponce de Leon from International MINI in Milwaukee, has supported the team fort he past four races at Road America.  Ponce de Leon 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.

Last season, nineteen-year-old racers Williams and Perocarpi each secured two first place finishes at Road America, sweeping the famed Midwest road course. Perocarpi had teammate PJ Groenke in the #62 MINI JCW at the front of the pack with him in Race 2 when the checkered flag waved, bringing home a 1 – 2 finish to close out the weekend.

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.
 
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.