MINI USA announced that it will continue its partnership with Indianapolis-based LAP Motorsports in the Touring Car A (TCA) class of the TC America series with a MINI John Cooper Works entry.

Last year, the MINI JCW team claimed the manufacturer’s championship in the Street Tuner class of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series, beating the likes of BMW, Porsche and Mazda.

“As we enter into our fifth year partnering with Luis Perocarpi and LAP Motorsports, we’re thrilled to take the MINI JCW team into TC America for 2019,” said Patrick McKenna, Department Head, MINI Product Planning and Consumer Events. “Given the incredibly hard work and success the team has achieved over the last few years, John Cooper can rest easy knowing his namesake racing team continues to exemplify the racing spirit he started almost 60 years ago.”

Continuing MINI USA’s program from last year, technicians from MINI dealerships all over the country will help to support the team throughout the entire season as part of the MINI Service Technicians Education Program (STEP).

“The entire LAP Motorsports team is incredibly excited to continue our partnership with MINI,” said Luis Perocarpi, team owner, LAP Motorsports. “I used to race Classic Minis with my father and uncle, so owning and running this race team has been an absolute dream come true. We can’t wait to tackle the challenges that await us in 2019.”