Double podium at Beijing finale completes successful team campaign

 

GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS – Rounds 11 and 12, Beijing, China

The final of the GT World Challenge Asia saw His Highness Tunku Abdul Rahman Al-Haj Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Panglima of Johor (HH Prince Jefri Ibrahim) complete a successful year, finishing second in the Pro-Am championship.

On a brand-new street circuit in Beijing, both of the Johor Motorsport Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R entries took hard-fought P2 race results as the
championship went down to the wire.

A hard late charge from Pro driver Alexander Sims saw the #66 Corvette finish an impressive P2 in the opening race of the weekend. Starting seventh on the grid,
Prince Jefri’s younger brother, HH Tunku Abu Bakar Al-Haj Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Putera of Johor (HH Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim) put in a composed
performance before Sims surged his way up the leaderboard, making a vital pass for P2 on the second-to-last lap.

In the same race, Prince Jefri Ibrahim and English pro driver Ben Green showed an abundance of pace around the fast street circuit, but a pit-stop penalty saw the #99
car finish P6.

The final race of the season saw no shortage of drama as the hour-long session finished under safety car conditions.

Starting from the second row of the grid, Green dropped two spots early, but clawed his way back to P3 before handing driving duties to Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

The quick pit-stop saw the Corvette leap-frog into P2 and the prince narrowly avoided a late crash that ultimately saw the 2025 season finish under a yellow flag, with a well-earned runner-up result.

The P2 race finish was enough to lift Prince Jefri Ibrahim to vice-champion in the Pro Am drivers’ points standings, and third in the GT World Challenge overall standings.

Meanwhile Sims and Prince Abu Bakar were in the thick of the action throughout the final race of the year, ultimately crossing the line in fifth.

While the curtain has fallen on a successful 2025 GT World Challenge Asia campaign, JMR will now turn their attention to the Asian Le Mans series, starting with
a home race at Sepang on 13-14 December.

HH Prince Jefri Ibrahim: “The emotions are everywhere at the moment. I would’ve loved to have won; we had the chance and we were so close, but we couldn’t do anything or fight being under safety car for a lot of the race. Nonetheless, I’m really grateful for the team – it was our first year with the Corvettes, the team did an amazing job and it’s been a pleasure to work alongside them. Today wasn’t our day, but we showed everyone what we’re capable of and that’s something we should all be proud of.”

HH Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim: “2025 has been a tough season for me, but I’m happy to finish it strongly with podiums at the last couple of races. There’s still plenty for us to work on and I’m already looking forward to next season.”

Ben Green: “I joined late, but I’ve really enjoyed my time racing with JMR this year. We’ve had some great results, wins and podiums along the way and I’m happy to finish the season on the podium.”

Alex Sims: “A podium in the first race was unexpected. Halfway through it seemed we were destined for a fairly average result, and we experienced a longer-than-usual pit-stop. It wasn’t looking great, but other drivers received penalties for their stops, and we had a nice clean race from that point. The Corvette was on rails and felt brilliant to drive – we made a few overtakes and finished second in the Pro-Am class, which was very surprising. I’m really thrilled with that result and the whole weekend was a nice haul of points for us.”

 

Results – 2025 GT World Challenge Asia, Beijing, China

Qualifying:
Ben Green – P3
Alex Sims – P7
HH Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim – P7
HH Prince Jefri Ibrahim – P8

Race 1:
HH Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim /Alex Sims – P2
HH Prince Jefri Ibrahim/Ben Green – P6

Race 2:
Ben Green/HH Prince Jefri Ibrahim – P2
Alex Sims/HH Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim – P5