Recent Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS race winner Prince Jefri Ibrahim endured a tough round in the sister Asian series held at Sugo in Japan.
Following victory at Queensland Raceway as part of the latest round in Australia, Ibrahim returned to his Asian commitments partnering with experienced Australian Nick Foster in one of two Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes-AMGs GT3s.
Aiming to clinch the title at Sugo, Ibrahim and Foster found the weekend tough as the pair struggled for pace in their Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Qualifying 12th for the opening race, steady movement through the field enabled a top 10 finish by the end in ninth, but led to the title margin being closed significantly.
Race 2 proved a lot better as Foster qualified the entry fifth, providing a base to attack from as Ibrahim took over and was holding second, but a spin on the penultimate lap at the final corner dropped him to 10th in the end.
It sets up a dramatic final round in Okayama next month as Ibrahim and Foster are now level on points with the CarGuy Racing’s Takeshi Kimura and Kei Cozzolino in a Ferrari 488.
Enhancing their title prospects in Am Class were Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter after taking third in the first race followed by fourth in the second to hold a 43-point lead into Okayama.
The Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS concludes at Okayama on September 23-25, just a week after competition in Australia resumes at Sandown as part of the SpeedSeries.