Motorwerks Mag praises LAP Motorsport's (MINI) progress

Steve · Jul 14, 2016

A Coming of Age!
MotorWerks Magazine | Sunday, July 10, 2016

Derek Jones gets by polesitter James Clay.

One week ago the MINI John Cooper Works Race Team stamped their authority on qualifying at the famed Watkins Glen International race circuit in upstate New York. It was a great thing to see, but in my eyes this weekendâ€™s race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was a truer indication of how far the Indianapolis, IN based team has come. Two of the team MINis qualified in the top ten; Derek Jones in fifth and local hero James Vance in seventh. The most important aspect of qualifying was it was in the dry and the MINIs showed a pace that put them firmly in the ball park with the traditional pacesetters in the class. It was not rain that helped the team to wrap up the front row or to their first podium as it has been in the past, it was pure pace and good driving talent. Friday was a coming of age for the team as far as I was concerned.

When MINI USA announced that LAP Motorsport was bringing the F56 JCW to the Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge I was under no illusions of them having an easy time of it, after all I have been involved with one form of racing or another for forty-seven years. Racing is not easy, if it was everyone would be doing it.

Mat Pombo pulled of a career drive and just fell short of the podium.

What especially makes me feel this way about the team and its efforts? Well in the past when MINIs have been close to the front the pace has never really been able to maintain it. This was through a multitude of reasons and many of them had nothing to do with the teamâ€™s efforts. Flooded tracks and errant race cars had a part in ending many a good run but on this Saturday the rolling hills north-east of Toronto witnessed something special, real special!

The #37 and #73 ran in tandem for a lot of the race.

Not only did Jones and Vance maintain positions but they were able to capitalize and move forward. The cars looked perfectly at home where they were running and were consistently challenging the cars in front. That is not to say there were not issues, the Jones/Pombo car had a coming together with a Porsche Cayman and a limp mode episode where the reboot added eighteen seconds to that particular lap. But it was a hard charging Mat Pombo that picked up fourth, only wishing there were a few more laps left. It was a drive which proved to me MINI really can be a challenger going forward as long as there are not too many BoP changes in the near future.

There were no gimmees this weekend, no wet weather advantage, this weekend was LAP Motorsports coming of age and telling the rest of the ST class watch out the MINIs are coming! The word around the paddock as I was leaving was about how tough the MINIs are going to be at Lime Rock Park. Now THAT is something I am really looking forward to.
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Alan · Jul 14, 2016

My understanding is they got a boost increase for WG & CTMP. The coming of age is knowing how to manage the BoP?

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