Prince Jefri Ibrahim secured his third win of the 2025 season, and his second in the last three rounds, in a thrilling and incident-packed Race 2 of the GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS at Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka, Japan.
Teaming up once again with Ben Green, the #99 JMR Corvette Z06 GT3.R overcame a late-race Safety Car to triumph, while heartbreak struck JMR’s sister car in dramatic fashion at the final corner of the last lap.
Starting from pole, Green delivered a flawless opening stint, building a commanding 19-second lead before the pit stops. Ibrahim inherited the car and stretched the advantage over Absolute Corse’s Lamborghini, while rivals from Origine and JMR’s second Corvette fell back due to success penalties.
However, with just 14 minutes remaining, the race was turned on its head. A heavy collision on the start/finish straight involving Wang Zhongwei’s Absolute Porsche and Rio’s Uno Audi triggered a lengthy Full Course Yellow, followed by a Safety Car. Both cars were heavily damaged, scattering debris across the track.
With time for only one final lap once racing resumed, Ibrahim executed a flawless restart, holding firm into Turn 1. Behind him, chaos erupted. Lu Wei, running second, was hit by a spinning Mike Zhou, who lost control under braking into Turn 6. The incident allowed Bob Yuan and Leo Ye’s Origine Porsche—which had already served a 15-second success penalty—to leapfrog into second place, capping off an extraordinary comeback.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim’s brother, Prince Abu Bakar, was embroiled in a separate final-corner collision with Ruan Cun Fan’s Team KRC BMW while battling for the final podium spot. The clash also collected Craft-Bamboo’s Cao Qi and Jayden Ojeda, though they recovered to claim third overall—Craft-Bamboo’s first podium since Round 1.
The fallout from the chaotic finale also reshuffled the Silver-Am class. Origine’s Li Kerong and Anders Fjordbach capitalized on earlier penalties and final-lap incidents to claim their first class victory, finishing an impressive fifth overall—marking their best result of the season.
In the Silver class, Harmony Racing’s Andy Deng and Luo Kailuo took top honors in their Ferrari 296 GT3, while Garage 75’s David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo earned a commanding win in the Am category.
Earlier in the weekend, Yuan and Ye’s Race 1 win had temporarily pushed them to the top of the drivers’ standings, overtaking Ibrahim. But the Malaysian’s emphatic response in Race 2—enabled by Green’s early domination and his own composure under pressure—saw him strike back with authority.
Elsewhere in the field, a five-second time penalty handed to Vollgas’s Han Mingwan for causing a collision dropped him and co-driver Daan Arrow from eighth to 13th overall, allowing GTO’s Brian Lee and Nico Menzel to climb to seventh. Absolute Corse’s Ferrari, Harmony’s class-winning 296 GT3, and Craft-Bamboo’s second Mercedes-AMG GT3 rounded out the top ten.
With the Fuji dust finally settling, all eyes now turn to Okayama, where the second SRO GT PowerTour event of 2025 will take place from August 29–31. With momentum on his side, Prince Jefri Ibrahim will look to extend his championship campaign—and continue his relentless charge towards the title.
Credit Photo : GTWC
