MINI JCW Team Heads to Virginia International Raceway as Hunt for Manufacturer’s Championship Heats Up

Woodcliff Lake, NJ,  August 16, 2018. The MINI JCW Team and MINI USA remains in the hunt for a series championship in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series heading into this weekend’s Biscuitville Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. After another podium finish this past weekend at Road America, and a first-time victory at Lime Rock Park last month, the MINI JCW Team is in top form heading into the final races of the extraordinary season.

Starting the race this weekend is CTSCC Series veteran Mike LaMarra in the #73, rookie sensation Colin Mullan in the #52, and Nate Norenburg in the #37. LaMarra started the #73 that ended up in victory lane with Mat Pombo behind the wheel at Lime Rock last month, while Mullan put the #52 in the front row for the third straight time at the famous “Bull Ring” in northern Connecticut, which his co-driver Mark Pombo brought to a podium finish later in the day. Meanwhile, Norenburg and Derek Jones took the #37 to the podium last weekend at Road America.

“The entire team is excited to make another run for the podium this weekend at VIR,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports. “We’ve built up quite a bit of positive momentum over the course of the season that we’re looking to leverage to our advantage, helping us to finish strong for and give us a good shot at a series championship.”

During both of the last two races, the MINI JCW Team pit crew was forced to “stack the pits”, a term used to describe when all three race cars come into pit at the same time. The MINI JCW Team has only two pit crews available to go over the wall to service all three cars at the same time. The MINI JCW Team executed both “stack the pits” situations flawlessly and kept the team in the race on both occasions.

This weekend, the team will be supported by active U.S. Army service members Katrina Williams and Max Stone as part of Operation Motorsport. Williams, who is originally from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is a Staff Sergeant with 14 years of service currently residing in Cameron, N.C. Stone hails from Mechanicsville, Va., and has been in the Army for almost six years. He is currently a Staff Sergeant and resides in Raeford, N.C.

Throughout the entire season, technicians from MINI dealerships all over the country help support the team as part of the MINI Service Technicians Education Program (STEP). This weekend at Virginia International Raceway the team is supported by two MINI technicians from Flow MINI of Raleigh, one from Flow MINI Winston-Salem, and one from Roadshow MINI in Cordova, Tenn.

The Indianapolis-based MINI JCW Team competes with a fleet of production-derived MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop race cars closely related to the John Cooper Works Hardtops that are currently on sale at MINI dealerships across the U.S. For information about the MINI JCW Team visit 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 MINI USA sales organization is represented in the U.S. through a network of 128 MINI passenger car dealers in 39 states. 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 four unique vehicles.

About the MINI JCW Team
The MINI JCW Team, operated by LAP Motorsports (@lapmotorsports), drives MINI's most powerful Hardtop ever in the two-door John Cooper Works. The team competes in the fiercely competitive IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. For additional information please visit minijcwteam.com or email luis@minijcwteam.com

Journalist notes: Media information about MINI and its products is available to journalists on-line at www.miniusanews.com.