Pasin Lathouras is counting down to one of the biggest challenges of his career to date as this coming weekend he will contest the 67th 24 Hours of Spa, one of the world’s most famous and demanding endurance races.
In the race Pasin will share the #47 AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3 with Italians Gianmaria Bruni and Alessandro Pier Guidi as well as Belgian ‘local’ driver Stéphane Lémeret.
The biggest endurance race in the world to be reserved exclusively for ‘GT’ cars, the 24 Hours of Spa was first run in 1924, which makes it only one year younger than the Le Mans 24 Hours. That the race takes place on one of the world’s most iconic and challenging circuits, Spa-Francorchamps, simply adds to the prestige, while tackling legendary sections – such as Eau Rouge, Raidillon, Stavelot and La Source – in the darkness and on a 7.004 km/20 turn circuit where nearly seventy racecars will be in action takes plenty of skill as well as quite a lot of bravery.
That typifies how far the 21-year-old has come in what is just his second season racing in Europe after he switched his university studies from Bangkok to London so as to progress with his racing career.
Also, racing in the highly competitive ‘Pro-Am’ category at Spa means the Thai youngster will have to work hard to ensure he matches the contributions of his three highly experienced teammates, all of who have previously competed in this race. It’s a driver-team lineup that is very well equipped to make a serious push for a podium finish.
Pasin certainly arrives in Belgium in top form as, earlier this month, during his last race, he got his championship title challenge in International GT Open right back on track with a superb win on what was his first visit to Austria’s Red Bull Ring.
It feels like almost every track has been a new challenge for Pasin since he moved to Europe, but Spa-Francorchamps is certainly an exception as he raced here twice last year, taking a superb win on his debut (in International GT Open), while he also took part in last month’s ‘Spa 24 Official Test Day’, where he shared the Ferrari with his three new teammates for the first time. That test was promising and it gave them early optimism that they can run on the pace during the 24-hour race this weekend.
Spa will also represent Pasin’s second ’24 hour’ race of the year (as well as of his career) as back in January he made his debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Then, the young Thai and his teammates turned in an excellent drive, battling up to P1 before mechanical issues threw them right to the back of the field. They then got their heads down, worked incredibly hard and closed down the leaders, gradually pulling back lap after lap and eventually nabbing a top four finishing position. That result adds to the promise that Pasin can push for a podium finish in this race.
The action on track at Spa-Francorchamps starts tomorrow (Thursday, 23 July) with Free Practice (1200-1330) before the qualifying runs get underway. Pre-Qualifying is first up (1810-1910) before Qualifying #1 (2020-2145) and finally Night Qualifying (2215-2345). All drivers also have to undertake a minimum number of laps during the night session in order to qualify for the race. The 67th edition of the 24 Hours of Spa gets underway at 1630 on Saturday (25 July). The race is scheduled to finish on Sunday (26 July) at 1630.
Pasin Lathouras: “I’m looking forward to Spa, it’s one of the big races and exactly where I want to be competing. I really enjoyed Daytona at the beginning of the year, it was tough but we ran well and had a good race pace so I hope I can repeat that form. I love Spa, it’s a really challenging track and I like the high-speed circuits, so to race there for 24 hours is going to be an amazing experience. At the test day we got the car in the direction we want so hopefully we can build on that momentum as soon as free practice gets underway. Anyway I’m ready, now we need to work hard, keep out of trouble, enjoy a bit of luck and push for the podium.”