MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS TEAM LANDS PODIUM FINISH AT ROAD AMERICA

Woodcliff Lake, NJ, September 2, 2021. MINI USA and the MINI John Cooper Works Team landed a podium finish in the Touring Car A (TCA) class of the 2021 SRO TC America series this weekend at Road America in Plymouth, Wis. 19-year-old racer Clayton Williams of Oakley, Calif., piloted the #62 MINI JCW to a third-place finish in Race 1 of the weekend after starting on the front row for the first time in the series.
 
Williams, who has been racing since he was 7 years old, is no stranger when it comes to putting his #62 MINI JCW on the podium. This was his third podium of the series. Williams’ teammate Derek Jones was taken out of Race 1 by another racer forcing him and his #60 MINI JCW PRO out of the Touring Car (TC) class competition and to the back of pack for Race 2.
 
“I am very proud of Clayton and what he was able to do with the #62 MINI JCW this weekend,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports. “He fought hard the whole race to keep that third position and get us on the podium. The MINI dealer technicians who supported us were invaluable and brought an incredible amount of technical expertise to the paddock all weekend.”
 
The MINI JCW Team had their usual fulltime race crew supported by two service technicians from MINI dealerships in the Central Region, including one technician from MINI of Orland Park in Orland Park, Ill,, and one from International MINI in Milwaukee, Wis.  These are the same technicians that repair customer MINIs and have proven time and again that their knowledge transfers to the racing world.
 
“The team built me a great car this weekend and could not be more thankful for Derek and Luis for their support all weekend,” said Clayton Williams. “It was also really exciting to get Donate Life America some visibility. I am very passionate about the work they do to help transplant patients find matching donors.”
 
The MINI JCW Team will hit the track again on September 16 - 19 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

The MINI John Cooper Works team continues 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 a 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.

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 114 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 MINIUSANEWS.com.