Fast Company
Corvette's Bathurst debut didn't end with a win, but it underscored the car's potential on The Mountain, and the promise of customer team Johor Motorsports Racing.
Bathurst may be 10,000 miles and 10 time zones from Germany, but the Mount Panorama Circuit might as well be part of the autobahn.
German makes have dominated both the lineups and the podium in the iconic track’s signature sports car event, the Bathurst 12 Hour. This year’s win by the No. 88 Mercedes-AMG Team GMR entry means German machines have scored overall victories in 10 of 15 races since the field opened to GT3 cars in 2011. To be fair, the pro class fields have been mostly Porsches, Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs, and Audis in recent years--a trend that has helped fuel what is now five straight wins and nine consecutive poles.
Johor Motorsports Racing (JMR) is no stranger to German-powered success at Bathurst. The six-year old Malaysian team, founded and led by Prince Jefri Ibrahim, scored three straight Pro-Am class podiums in 2022-2024.
This year, they brought something different to The Mountain--and nearly conquered it.
JMR, which signed to be a Corvette customer racing team in 2025, entered a pair of Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs. While a Corvette has turned laps at Mount Panorama before, this year’s 12 Hour--the five-round Intercontinental GT Challenge series opener--marked its first Mount Panorama points race.
Neither JMR nor Chevrolet came to mess around. Full-time Corvette Racing factory drivers Alexander Sims and Nicky Catsburg teamed with Cadillac factory veteran Earl Bamber in the No. 2 Pro class entry.
The team’s No. 99 Corvette ran in the Pro-Am class with drivers Ben Green, Jordan Love, and brothers Jefri Ibrahim and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim.
After qualifying 14th in the 16-car pro class, the No. 2 quickly worked its way to the front, improving with each stint.
“Our Corvette is working pretty darn well in race trim,” Sims said following one early stint. “After the first five or six laps the car seems to come alive a bit.”
Tests on The Mountain
Mid-race brought tests. A safety car just after a scheduled pit stop cost the No. 2 track position. A mistake during a subsequent safety car brought a drive-through penalty.
Each issue knocked the No. 2 team from a podium spot to outside the top five. Each time, it responded.
With a bit more than two hours to go, Catsburg had the No. 2 Corvette headed back to the front. Shortly after posting what would hold up as the race’s fastest lap, the Corvette veteran moved up in an intense battle for third place between No. 46 Team WRT BMW and the No. 95 Optimum Motorsport McLaren.
As the fight moved through turn one, Catsburg slid by them both, flexing the Z06 GT3.R’s straight-line speed in one of the circuit’s fastest sections.
Just 15 minutes later, trouble found the No. 2. A fuel pick-up issue slowed Catsburg, costing him five spots and forcing him to pit.
“There was no alarm, but we seemed to be out of fuel,” Catsburg said soon after handing the car over to Bamber. “Everything that I gained, we lost again. We have to see what Earl can do now. It’s a real shame. We have a fast car.”
Bamber got right to work, but his podium-spot push ended quickly. Ten minutes into his stint, a broken rear suspension took him for a ride.
“I turned off Skyline and got a big snap from the rear and took the escape road,” Bamber said. “I tried to turn through the next corner but had nothing on the rear, so I just slowly spun and stopped.”
Bamber’s unplanned loop ended JMR’s overall win chances. But down a level in the Pro-Am class, the No. 99 overcame some early challenges to claim second in class and a solid 14th overall.
“We had a few little issues with the car that cost us a little bit of time, but it was an absolute rocket, Green said. “The boys did an amazing job getting the car ready and set up for the first race.”
While the Pro class outcome brought some disappointment, the overall showing demonstrated JMR’s progress. Bathurst was just the second Pro-class race for JMR and its No. 2 Corvette, following a third overall last fall in the Suzuka 1000K with Sims, Catsburg and Scott McLaughlin behind the wheel. The Ibrahim brothers were part of a third-place class finish in the same race by the No. 99.
‘It’s not easy’
The No. 99’s run proved the Corvette can stand up to the half-day of punishment that Bathurst delivers, while the No. 2 showed pace is not a problem.
“We are not very nice on the cars here,” Catsburg said. “We’re hammering them over curbs and against other cars. It’s not easy. We clearly had a fast car. I feel like we should have been fighting for the win today.”
“This is a debut for us and we couldn’t ask for more,” added Jefri Ibrahim. “Hopefully we’ll come back next year.”
JMR, which just completed a full Asian Le Mans schedule, has time to finalize its 2027 12 Hour plans.
Among its nearer-term priorities is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Key JMR team members will combine with TF Sport’s technical staff on an LMGT3 entry. The Z06 GT3.R --one of three Corvettes TF Sport will back at Le Mans this year--will see Green, Jefri Ibrahim, and Afiq Ikhwan share driving duties. The entry will carry JMR’s familiar No. 2.
References
TF Sport/JMR at Le Mans—https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/2026-24-hours-of-le-mans-entry-list-team-reactions-60333
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