Brotherly bond unites princes in high stakes racing debut

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the public now have the opportunity to watch two Johor princes - Tunku Putera of Johor, Tunku Abu Bakar Sultan Ibrahim and Tunku Panglima of Johor, Tunku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ibrahim - prepare and make their debut in the GT World Challenge Asia Series.

The new documentary, released by Johor Motor Racing (JMR) entitled 'Brothers in Racing', depicts the behind-the-scenes look into the bond of the two princes for the first series held at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) in May.

The 10-minute documentary shows the trials and tribulations of the two princes as they race head to head for the first time in front of friends, family and home crowd at the SIC, JMR said in a statement today.

Founded by the Johor royal family, JMR is powered by the Australian-based Triple Eight Race Engineering and Mercedes-AMG, driving the car maker's GT3 race model.

Tunku Abdul Rahman secured first place in Round 1 and expressed his gratitude to the team as well as for racing with his brother.

"Racing in my own country of course is special, it's our home race. I had my first GT debut here and first win here in Malaysia.

"It is really special for us, especially as a team that is growing... to be racing at our home race with my brother and having support from family and friends is really great," he said.

Meanwhile, Tunku Abu Bakar was able to walk away with second place in Round 2, as the Triple Eight team was monitoring both cars from oversea.

In addition, the documentary also featured their co-drivers - national racer Jazeman Jaafar (JJ) and Nick Foster - as well as the Triple Eight Race Engineering team.

Speaking on the princes' preparation and progress, Foster said that Tunku Abu Bakar "has an awesome attitude when it comes to driving and the way he goes about everything he does in and outside the car and works hard with JJ as well."

Foster is optimistic that the princes will be a force to be reckoned with and the whole JMR team has a strong operation at the moment.

-- BERNAMA