Thai racer Pasin Lathouras enjoyed a successful weekend of testing at Daytona International Speedway, as part of his preparation for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The 21 year old, who raced in the British GT Championship last year, piloted the GT-D class #49 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia alongside World Endurance Championship regulars Michele Rugolo and Rui Aguas, with fourth team member Matt Griffin away at the Dubai 24 Hours.
Lathouras was given the invaluable experience of negotiating the 5.7 km circuit in clear and wet conditions, as well as driving the Ferrari in the dark.
Despite being a newcomer to the Rolex 24 and the ‘Roar Before the 24’ curtain raiser, Lathouras was consistently one of the quickest Silver rated drivers over the course of the weekend.
After a trouble-free weekend, the #49 crew left the track as the 11th fastest team in the GT-D class, out of a total 19 entries.
“It was great to get out at Daytona at last, it’s one of the most legendary circuits in the world and it’s a little bit special to head out of the pitlane for the first time,” Lathouras said.
“As the test progressed of course I became much more comfortable with the track and car and I was able to start pushing the limits more and more. The first time on the [32 degree] banking is just a really strange feeling; I never experienced anything like it before, there is around 1.8g of g-force and you feel that.”
“Overall it’s an easy track to remember the corners, but it’s very challenging to get a fast time. I think we had a good test all-in-all and we believe the car is almost ready, just some fine changes to be done and we should be okay for the race.”