The Mini John Cooper Works (JCW) team has been a contender in the SRO TC America TC and TCA classes all year, but everything really came together for the team at Road America this past weekend, as Clay Williams won both TC class races in his #61 Mini JCW Pro TC race car, and Christian Perocarpi won both TCA class races in his #61 Mini JCW. To top it all off, teammate PJ Groenke finished second behind Perocarpi in the TCA class in the second race in the #62 Mini JCW.
Christian Perocarpi won both TCA class races at Road America.
The second TC class race at Road America seemed out of reach for Williams after winning the first race. His car was having some electrical issues that caused him to fall back through the field as he had to reboot the car, but the problem fixed itself and he came storming back through the field to win again. Williams now has four wins on the season and Perocarpi has three. “You cannot ask for better results than what the team pulled off this weekend,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports (who runs the MINI JCW team). “This was not an easy race weekend by any means. I am so proud of them and the entire LAP team including our MINI dealer technicians with us this weekend.”
BMW teams also experienced success at Road America. In the TCX class of the TC America series (which is populated solely by M2 CS Racing cars), defending champion and points leader Jacob Ruud won both races in his Fast Track Racing #1 M2 CS. He was joined on the podium by Lucas Catania and Garrett Adams in the first race and Catania and Colin Garrett in race two. “Just driving this car is a privilege,” said Ruud after the races. “You have to keep up your pace because the guys behind me were not going away. I had to manage the tires throughout the whole race. It was hairy out there, but the guys put together a great car for me. I’ve got 30 people here today to celebrate with.”
In GT World Challenge, BimmerWorld teammates Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen finished second in race one in the Pro/Am class after Hull put the car on the pole, and they followed that up with a third in race two. Turner Motorsport had much worse luck, as Michael Dinan ran into a spinning Mercedes in race one due to having nowhere else to go. The damage to the car took him and teammate Robby Foley out of the first race and the car was not repairable for race two.
Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull were on the podium in both races in GT World Challenge Pro/Am.
In GT4 America, the #53 Auto Technic Racing M4 GT4 of Rob Walker and Alex Filsinger won the Am class in race two, and points leaders James Clay and Charlie Postins finished second in the Am class in both races in their #36 BimmerWorld M4 GT4. Auto Technic Racing drivers Zach Andersen and Austen Smith also had a podium finish in the Silver class in race two, finishing third in their #51 M4 GT4.
Rob Walker and Alex Filsinger won the Am class in race two.
The SRO America championship with its respective classes will go to Sebring International Raceway for the next two rounds of the series, on the weekend of September 23rd-25th. —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO, Mini USA]