Badawy Makes History in Dubai

Ibrahim Badawy becomes the first Egyptian driver to win an international race.

By winning the second 4 Hours of Dubai for LMP3 last weekend with his 23Events Racing teammates Terrence Woodward and Matus Ryba, Ibrahim Badawy became the first ever Egyptian driver to win an international race.
 
The 2025/26 season got off to a bad start when the no71 Ligier-Toyota recorded a DNF in opening race in Sepang, but Woodward, Ryba and Badawy have followed this by three podiums in a row - a second place in Sepang race 2 and then a third followed by the win in Dubai.  This has put the 23Events Racing trio in the hunt for the title this weekend in Abu Dhabi, just 11 points behind leaders CLX Motorsport.
 
We caught up with Ibrahim Badawy as he prepares for the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series finale.
 
“Circuit racing is not really popular in Egypt. We don't have any race racing circuits for cars, so this is why it's not very accessible in Egypt,” He said.  “First off, I thank God for everything that's happening, and I want to really push the sport in Egypt, and I'm doing as much as I can on social media to push this. I believe that we have so much talent in Egypt, but it's not accessible yet, but I'm sure there's going to be a lot of stars that are rising from Egypt later on. I'll try to push this as much as I can.
 
So when di Badawy start racing?  “I only started four years ago. I did some karting in Dubai, but it wasn't a very competitive championship like in Europe, so I jumped straight into the Lamborghini Super Trofeo.  It was a huge jump after that, but I was able to adapt very fast. I did in my first year, I did the AM class, and I won a couple of races. I ended up getting second in the championship.
 
“I then did the second year in Pro, in which we made lots of improvements,” he continued. “Then in my third year, I jumped to GT3, and we won the Italian GT Championship in Pro Am. So, it's been a couple of overwhelming years.”
 
Ibrahim Badawy had to watch his teammate Matus Ryba battle for the win from the garage in Dubai.  How nerve wracking was it for him as a driver to not be in control?  “Matus, what a star. I'm very confident when he is in the car. This is the first year I’ve raced drive with him. I didn't know him before, but we’ve really clicked very well. I'm very confident with my teammates in the car, and I'm not really stressing as I was in the beginning.
 
So, what’s next for Ibrahim Badawy after the Asian Le Mans Series?  “We're still seeing what’s available, there's a huge amount of variety in motor sports.  We'll start planning after this race weekend to see what we can do.”