The Prince living a double life Down Under

2 years ago 193

His Highness Prince Jefri Ibrahim of Johor. It's a sanction not galore Australians volition know, but for Malaysians, the 28-year-old is literal royalty.

At his home, the lad of the Sultan of Johor tin hardly permission his location without being swarmed by adoring locals.

On the Gold Coast, helium roams escaped with passers-by nary the wiser to who helium is.

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Ibrahim – who volition contention arsenic portion of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS tract astatine Sandown for the penultimate SpeedSeries lawsuit of 2022 connected September 16-18 – has a fascinating history.

A royal from birth, the softly spoken Prince lives a treble beingness Down Under and has a imagination to 1 time beryllium a racing champion.

Of the countries connected the Asian continent, Malaysia is hardly the archetypal to caput erstwhile it comes to car culture, fto unsocial Johor.

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A Malaysian authorities neighbouring Singapore, Johor does person immoderate centrifugal racing past having hosted the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix successful 1998 and its ain Johor Grand Prix from 1949 to 1953.

Racing is, for each intents and purposes, successful the blood. Ibrahim's precocious grandfather, the Sultan Iskandar of Johor, raced a Mercedes-Benz 540K Special astatine the circuit.

However, helium wanted his grandson to person precise small to bash with motorsport.

"He mislaid a batch of friends done racing," Ibrahim explained, speaking with Wide World of Sports.

"Of course, I didn't deliberation helium would similar having that fearfulness of losing anyone much done motorsport due to the fact that of the friends that helium lost.

"The household athletics has ever been polo. That was ever thing the household has been playing.

"I did play for a fewer years but motorsport was ever successful the backmost of my caput of what I truly wanted to do."

Motorsport was ever connected Ibrahim's radar. He'd taken a peculiar liking to Supercars and successful 2016 visited Australia to spot the Bathurst 1000.

The Holden VF Commodore that Triple Eight Race Engineering and galore of the teams ran took his involvement and helium decided helium needed to person 1 of his own.

Plans were hatched to person a brace of replicas built for the road. Soon enough, helium was introduced to then-Triple Eight Race Engineering squad main Roland Dane, opening what would go a fruitful relationship.

Coincidentally, Dane already had a nexus to Ibrahim's household having met his gramps via a communal acquaintance successful the 1980s.

Bitten by the Supercars bug, Ibrahim bought Jamie Whincup's past championship-winning Supercar astatine the extremity of 2017.

Part of the woody saw the car chopped laps astatine Ibrahim's location track, the Johor Circuit, wherever Shane van Gisbergen got to person a spell arsenic well.

That was contempt Ibrahim having had nary erstwhile racing acquisition whatsoever, not adjacent karting.

"I was rather nervous, to beryllium honest," said Ibrahim.

"I had ne'er driven immoderate crazy, precocious powerfulness contention car, particularly a Supercar – 600hp, nary traction control, nary ABS, that was daunting.

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"I was nervous, but past the clip wasn't that atrocious compared to Shane. That's erstwhile the thought came to travel race."

Soon enough, a program was hatched to person Ibrahim contention a Mercedes-AMG GT3 successful GT World Challenge Asia.

In galore ways, helium had travel afloat circle.

"Interestingly, my gramps raced Mercedes-Benz 540K Special. We decided to spell racing with Mercedes, not conscionable due to the fact that of that but due to the fact that it's a amended car," said Ibrahim.

"It was a coincidence that my gramps raced a Mercedes, truthful that's however agelong the past has gone back."

While his household initially had reservations astir going racing, information had improved drastically since the days of his grandfather's clip successful the sport.

It is simply a spot of a balancing act, however. Occasionally, Ibrahim returns location to behaviour subject duties arsenic good arsenic philanthropic activities successful the community.

"Thankfully, my begetter has been precise supportive," helium said.

"He knows however superior I americium with the racing. This is what I truly privation to do, truthful he's been precise supportive passim the year.

"I tin enactment racing arsenic the precedence present and immoderate duties I person backmost home, whenever I person the time, I'll bash it. So far, racing is my main crippled and I'll effort and absorption conscionable connected this first."

Ibrahim is speedy to admit helium loves beingness successful Australia wherever helium tin power disconnected and unrecorded a comparatively mean life, thing helium hasn't known increasing up.

"It's been great, to beryllium honest," helium said.

"I've been enjoying each azygous portion of it having the state and not having radical cognize you everyplace you go."

While royal beingness tin astatine times beryllium overwhelming, Ibrahim is conscious of his work to the authorities and its people.

One day, helium wants to revitalise the Johor Circuit and commencement a racing academy to foster a caller procreation of racers.

"Me and my member are readying to revamp it," helium explained.

"Johor Circuit has a batch of past having MotoGP there. It was the archetypal motorcycle expansive prix successful Malaysia and the past feline that won MotoGP determination was Mick Doohan.

"Right now, successful Malaysia, the lone contention way successful Sepang. I deliberation the lone mode for motorsport to turn is to person much tracks. You tin spot successful Australia, you person a batch of tracks. That's however motorsport volition grow.

"It volition beryllium bully to revamp it and to a safer modular excessively and hopefully that volition assistance bring much planetary races but besides grassroots too.

"Overall, I spot that it volition assistance the motorsport country having much tracks and much opportunities for radical to spell racing."

Ibrahim volition contention astatine Melbourne's iconic Sandown arsenic portion of the SpeedSeries programme successful Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia alongside Shane van Gisbergen.

The Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series volition header proceedings supported by Turtle Wax Trans Am, Australian Production Cars, and Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia.

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