Press release

MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS TEAM READY TO PUT NEW TOURING CAR BACK ON TRACK AT VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
 

Five service technicians from MINI dealerships across the region will support the team in the paddock and pits this weekend
 

Woodcliff Lake, NJ,  June 4, 2021. MINI USA and the MINI John Cooper Works Team will fire up their new race car in the Touring Car (TC) class for the 2021 SRO TC America series once again this weekend at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. The #60 MINI JCW PRO, which is visually inspired by the latest generation MINI John Cooper Works GP, had its initial debut at Circuit of the Americas cut short when a rock punctured the radiator during practice sending the car back to the paddock and on to the hauler before ever turning a green flag lap.
 
The #60 MINI JCW PRO will again be piloted by team veteran driver Mark Pombo while fellow team veteran Derek Jones will again pilot the #61 MINI JCW in the Touring Car A (TCA) class. The MINI JCW Team will have their usual fulltime race crew supported by five service technicians from MINI dealerships across the Southern Region, including MINI of Montgomery County in Gaithersburg, Md., MINI of Annapolis, MINI of Kennesaw, MINI of Sterling and Hendrick MINI in Charlotte, N.C.  These are the same technicians that repair customer MINIs and have proven time and again that their knowledge transfers to the racing world.
 
“We are looking forward to finally getting the new MINI JCW PRO out on the track to see what it can do against the competition,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports. “We are also very excited to once again have amazing support from the local dealers here in the Southern Region. The knowledge these techs bring to the track allows us to keep these cars running in top performance condition all weekend.”
 
Visually inspired by the third generation MINI John Cooper Works GP launched in 2020, the #60 MINI JCW PRO is a MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop that has been engineered and modified using both original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and components from across the MINI line up and aftermarket performance parts in order to meet the technical rules and regulations required to compete in the TC class. The GP-inspired visual cues presented on the #60 MINI JCW PRO, including the paint scheme and front grill and fender, also help to meet requirements of the series to differentiate the TC versus TCA race cars while on the track.
 
The MINI John Cooper Works team is looking to build on the momentum from the start of the season after taking three podiums at Sonoma Raceway in pursuit of the team’s third Manufacturer’s Championship in row in the series. The MINI JCW Team also won Manufacturer’s Championship in 2018 in the final season of the Street Tuner class of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series, where the team finished ahead of BMW, Porsche and Mazda.

Both races will be streamed live at YouTube.com/GTWorld. In addition, MINI John Cooper Works Team owner Luis Perocarpi and driver Mark Pombo will provide live debriefings each session and also provide timing and scoring across the team’s social media channels including Facebook and Instagram.



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 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 MINI USA sales organization is represented in the U.S. through a network of 116 MINI passenger car dealers. 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 www.miniusanews.com.