Press release

MINI USA AND THE MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS RACE TEAM HEAD INTO VIR AFTER CAPTURING FIRST WIN IN TC CLASS

Talented trio of young drivers return to face another round of fierce competition

Woodcliff Lake, NJ,  June 17, 2022. MINI USA and the MINI John Cooper Works Team head to Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., for the third race weekend in the 2022 SRO TC America series. The Brownsburg, Ind. -based LAP Motorsports team, which operates the MINI JCW Team, will field three cars this weekend, with Clay Williams piloting the #60 MINI JCW Pro in the Touring Car (TC) class and Cristian Perocarpi, distinguished by his green racing suit, in #61 MINI JCW and PJ Groenke in #62 MINI JCW in the Touring Car A (TCA) class.
 
The team hopes to ride the momentum coming off Clay Williams’ first win of the season and the first win for the #60 MINI JCW PRO in the Tour Car (TC) class at NOLA Motorsports Park last month. Williams also secured two podium finishes back in April at the season opening weekend at Sonoma Raceway. The team continues to battle a competitive field that includes teams represented by Honda, Hyundai, Subaru and BMW.
 
“The team has great momentum heading into this weekend and we are very familiar with VIR having raced there many times,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports. “We are also excited to have a solid group of MINI dealer technicians at the track with us this weekend as well. They are an important part of our success each weekend.”
 
This weekend MINI USA will bring forward six qualified MINI Dealer technicians to work alongside the LAP Motorsports team during practice, qualifying and race days as part of the MINI Technician Race Crew Program. The six dealer technicians are from dealers in the Southern Region, including two from Hendrick MINI in Charlotte, one from Flow MINI in Raleigh, one from Flow MINI in Winston-Salem, one from Momentum MINI in Houston and one from MINI of Richmond. Each of them will support the team for the entire weekend at VIR. 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.

2022 SRO TC America
  • April 15 – 17:                     Sonoma Raceway (COMPLETE)
  • May 20 – 22:                      New Orleans Motorsports Park (COMPLETE)
  • June 17 – 19:                     Virginia International Raceway 
  • July 22 – 24:                      Watkins Glen International
  • August 19 – 21:                  Road America
  • September 23 – 25:           Sebring International Raceway
  • October 7– 9:                     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 115 locations comprised of 105 MINI full passenger car sales and service dealers and 10 service exclusive outlets 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 www.miniusanews.com.