Stormy conditions delayed the start of race two at Road America for roughly 30 mins. With rain still falling and a very wet road course the field finally took the green.
Pombo in the #61 STEP and MINIDealerCareers.com MINI JCW started in eleventh place due to a rough outing in race one where the car developed a misfire.
The MINI JCW Team crew and MINI Dealer techs worked through the night to repair the cars for race two, including the #60 car which made hard contact with the wall.
What a great group of automotive service professionals!! I want to thank our MINI Dealer technicians that participated in this weekends SRO TC America race at Road America!!!! This group was with the team from sun up to sun down preparing these MINI JCWs!!!! So a BIG THANK YOU to Eric Sawers from MINI of Ann Arbor, Tim Dalipi from Patrick MINI, Chan Truong from Motorwerks MINI and Tyler German from Baron MINI!!!! Last but not least I want to thank a true MINIAC Tony Lechnie who always comes out to help support the team!!! The best part is they got to drink champagne twice!!! We have some of the best Automotive Service Professionals in the industry!!!”
Zdravko Miric – MINI JCW Team Engineer
The hard work the team did in preparing the cars for race two was rewarded as Pombo sliced his way through the field.
Pombo traded places a number of times with various competitors through the final 15 minutes as he fought to maintain the lead. On the final lap he was in front when Nick Witmer passed him in Canada corner, just a few turns before the finish line. Pombo continued to fight latching on to Witmer’s back bumper just before the final stretch.
As they came on to the straightaway Pombo faked right and then went left, pulling along side for a drag race to the finish. He unleashed the full power of his MINI JCW and simply powered by Witmer’s Subaru to win the race.
Tomas Mejia in the #62 Pledge to Humanity MINI JCW had another strong outing for the team in race one. He battled for the lead and ran the fastest lap in the class on the way to a third place finish and second consecutive podium.
After dominating at Watkins Glen, Mark Pombo in the #59 STEP MINI JCW had strong runs in both races but unfortunately didn’t get the results he wanted. Expect him to bounce back when the team heads out to Vegas to close out the season.
Nate Norenberg made heavy contact with the wall in race one. And again the hard work by the team crew and MINI techs was rewarded. Norenberg drove from last place all the way up to his finishing position of sixth in race two.
Next up on the calendar is the final two races of the SRO TC America season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the weekend of October 18th-20th.
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 John Cooper Works. The team competes in the fiercely competitive SRO TC America Series. For additional information please visit minijcwteam.com or email luis@minijcwteam.com.
