Pasin Lathouras was pleased to be back on track last weekend to drive for “Team Thailand” in the inaugural FIA GT Nations Cup extravaganza in Bahrain.
Teamed up with fellow countryman Piti Bhirombhakdi in the #39 Ferrari 488 GT3 the duo certainly had a tough weekend from start to finish and had to continually fight back to get into contention during the three races but eventually they grabbed a top ten result in the finale that was a satisfactory conclusion to the weekend.
The FIA GT Nations Cup is an exciting new addition to the international motorsport calendar. It’s sanctioned by the FIA and this first edition was organised by SRO and the Bahrain Motorsport Federation.
For Pasin, who has had to skip this racing season due to other commitments, the opportunity to represent Thailand against the rest of the world and the chance to get back on track before this year finally ticks away was really something that couldn’t be missed.
The “Nations Cup” pitched teams representing eighteen countries against each other in a format that built up to a dramatic “finale” race that came after the tempo had been raised sky high by two qualification races.
The countries represented on track (a one car entry was permitted from each nation) included Germany, France, UK, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Russia, China, Sweden, Belgium and Australia while the crews themselves comprised of one Bronze and one Silver driver which gave “Team Thailand” a rounded and competitive line up.
As well as an opportunity to get back on track it was also a great chance for Pasin to race for the first time at the Bahrain International Circuit.
It proved to be a pretty hectic weekend too as a good car setup direction proved elusive early on, a problem compounded by the limited sets of tyres available that cut down track time.
The three races saw many incidents playing out, including big dramas at Turn 1 during the last two races, that simply didn’t shake out well for the #39 Ferrari and damage to the car sustained in the final Qualifying Race meant that Pasin and Piti had to start the deciding Main Race from the penultimate row of the grid.
However, although they never had a moment to get ahead of the curve, Pasin and Piti combined very well to show excellent pace throughout.
Pasin drove the closing stint during the final two races and showed a very strong pace that put him right amongst the fastest cars on track as well as a consistency that kept his laps with a one second of each other for all the clear air green flag time. The car eventually finished in P9.
Pasin Lathouras: “Well, it was certainly good to be back on track, it felt good to be back in the cockpit and after work commitments precluded me putting a programme together this season I’m glad that I got to the end of the year with at least one race under my belt – and if it was to going to be one race then the opportunity to represent Thailand against the rest of the world was the perfect event, I’m always very proud and humbled to race for my country. I want to say thank you to the organisers for putting this event together very well and I expect it to become an important fixture on the calendar in the years to come and also to thank you to my teammate Piti who I have known since I started out in karting and finally we had the opportunity to race together. He’s a strong and hard driver on track and his recent seasons racing GT cars in Europe are clearly paying off so I also wish him the best for next year.”
