Sims, Catsburg and McLaughlin take third overall in Pro-class Corvette
SUZUKA, Japan (September 14, 2025) – Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer team Johor Motorsports Racing recorded a podium finish on Sunday in the Suzuka 1000K.
It’s the first podium in Intercontinental GT Challenge competition for the Corvette Racing program. The Pro-class entry raced its way from ninth on the grid with impressive stints for both McLaughlin and Sims before second-half heroics by Catsburg secured the podium result for the Corvette and JMR.
Catsburg drove the final three hours, 10 minutes and went from sixth when he got in the No. 2 Corvette to third with a little more than hour to go. He fought with numerous cars inside the final 90 minutes and withstood a five-lap battle at the end to secure third place overall.
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Driving our Corvette around here at Suzuka has been a wonderful experience. I think Nicky was doing himself down a little bit. He got us that result. He’s been hands down the quickest guy this weekend for us. It was a mega, mega race… great battles and great fun to watch. I’m really proud of everyone at JMR.
“It was a fantastic job by the whole JMR team to get our Corvette toward the front from a less than ideal starting position. Nicky and Scott did a fantastic job. For Nicky to do three hours in a row, he was our quickest guy and our best chance of holding on to that podium position. He really earned it for us. From a physical point of view, Nicky was absolutely empty but kept digging deep. That’s a huge moment for us. We had thought about changing drivers for the final stint but either Scott or I would not have been able to do the job that Nicky did. He was just in the groove and on fire this weekend. Great job by him and the whole team effort for us this week.”
