PETALING JAYA: The European heatwave was no bother for Johor Motorsports Racing (JMR) as they delivered a stellar show to become the first Malaysian team to win the Pro-Am class at the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium on Sunday.
JMR finished first in the class, led by Tunku Jefri Ibrahim (Panglima of Johor), with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R also driven by Tunku Abu Bakar Ibrahim (Tunku Putera of Johor), English racer Ben Green and Jordan Love of Australia.
Tunku Jefri admitted that it was no easy feat with the track temperatures soaring, but the team’s determination to deliver a strong result came through.
"I’m so happy to achieve this result at the world’s biggest GT3 race. It was a very hot race, but that made it feel like home for me," he said.
"Our car worked extremely well the whole race and the support we received was amazing.
"We had a few hurdles at the start, but everyone pushed right to the end and we didn’t give up. We could feel how hungry everyone was to win this year, and we couldn’t have done it without them."
At last year’s 24 Hours of Spa, JMR did not have the smoothest start but managed a 12th-place finish in the Pro-Am class.
Tunku Abu Bakar was glad to see the team improve on their result.
"It’s unbelievable to win on my second time here. We had a tough race last year but here we are, a year later, winning the Pro-Am class.
"Every hour was chaotic, but winning our first 24 Hours of Spa almost feels like winning the championship for me," he said.
JMR came in 29th in the overall standings as Lionspeed GP’s Porsche took the overall race win.
High Class Racing’s Li Kerong came in second in the Pro-Am, while Tsunami RT’s Johannes Zelger rounded out the podium.
