Pasin Lathouras is about to enjoy the biggest challenge of his career so far as he has been called up by AF Corse to drive in the Petit Le Mans which will take place in a little under two weeks time.
Held at the Road Atlanta Circuit in Georgia, United States, this is one of the world’s major sports car races and represents a major career break for the 20-year-old Thai driver.
The annual Petit Le Mans runs for 1,000 miles (1,600 kms) or 10 Hours – whichever comes up first (1,000 miles/1,600 kms is equivalent of 394 laps of the circuit). This year it is also the thirteenth and final round of the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship.
Pasin has just completed his first season racing in Europe; that has been his first step outside his native Asia. He arrived in Europe as the 2013 Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific Champion having dominated the season with 9 wins from 14 races and ending the year with 7 consecutive victories. Petit Le Mans will represent his first race in the America.
To race in Europe and continue his learning process he joined the 2014 British GT Championship with AF Corse and in fact the series wrapped its year up just over a week ago at Donington Park after what has been a successful debut season for Pasin.
Alongside this core commitment, Pasin is also undertaking two late season races in International GT Open, also with AF Corse, earlier this month at Spa-Francorchamps and also this coming weekend at Monza. At Spa, sharing the car with Richard Lyons, Pasin enjoyed a stunning debut win.
But now his biggest career challenge to date approaches. For Petit Le Mans AF Corse will join Pasin up with two established names, Michele Rugolo and Matt Griffin. In fact Pasin has shared the cockpit with both drivers previously – he raced to a podium finish alongside the Italian at the MMER Sepang 12 Hours last year and was paired with Matt Griffin in the British GT Championship for the Brands Hatch round at the end of this August.
The trio will drive an AF Corse-entered Ferrari 458 GT3 in the GT-class, which will include some of the world’s top professional drivers and factory teams.
Petit Le Mans, founded in 1998, has grown into one of the most prestigious events on the international sports car racing calendar and this year’s edition forms the season-closing round of the inaugural Tudor United Sports Car Championship.
Now approaching the end of its first season, the new Tudor United Sports Car Championship is the result of the merger between two of the world’s biggest sports car series, the Grand American Road Racing Championship and the American Le Mans Series. One of the most important amalgamations in sports car racing history the new calendar boasts many of motorsport’s most important individual events, including the 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona and 6 Hours of Watkins Glen.
Other tracks on the calendar this year include the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Road America and the Circuit of the Americas, Home of the US Grand Prix as well as street races at Long Beach and Belle Isle, Detroit.
Petit Le Mans takes place at Road Atlanta in Braselton, one of the most famous racetracks in sports car history. Opened in 1970, the circuit is 4.088-km and has 12-turns.
Pasin Lathouras: “Well, this was pretty unexpected, when I was told I would be driving at Petit with Matt and Michele, it was for sure the most exciting news I’ve had in my career so far. I’ve just finished the British GT season and I have another event in GT Open next weekend and then maybe another event or two, but really the season was starting to come to a close so I didn’t expect this. I really want to thank AF Corse for the opportunity. That I will get to drive with drivers of the caliber of Matt and Michele is great, they set the standard I have to shoot for in my career and having driven with both of them before I’ve been lucky to learn from them. I’m taking this very seriously and I want to justify the faith AF Corse has placed in me and help bring a result. Really, I feel a bit humbled.”