Alessandro Latif
Alessandro Guido Latif (born 11 April 1996 in London, England) is a British/Italian race car driver. Latif is the youngest race winner of a V de V Proto Endurance Challenge race.[1] In 2014 he competed in the Blancpain Sprint Series driving for Phoenix Racing, the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours driving an Audi R8 LMS for Flying Lizard Motorsports.[2] Latif's early career involved an upbringing in karts and Formula Renault 2.0.
| Alessandro Guido Latif | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  British Italian |
| Born | 11 April 1996 London, England |
| Blancpain Sprint Series career | |
| Current team | Phoenix Racing, Flying Lizard Motorsports |
| Car number | 5 |
| Former teams | Avelon Formula, Atech Grand Prix |
| Previous series | |
| V de V Proto Endurance Challenge, SPEED Euroseries, Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula Renault 2.0 Alps | |
Early life
Latif was born on 11 April 1996 in London, England. His father is Pakistani born and mother is Italian, both whom currently reside in London, England. Latif started in karting at aged 11.
Racing career
Karts
Latif's karting career began in 2007 where he rose up the ranks to race in the international scene. As well as developing his race craft he achieved notable success in British and European events, as well as in World Karting.[3]
Single Seater's
In 2012 Latif moved to Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps driving for Atech Grand Prix completing 8 races.
Sports car racing
Latif signed with Avelon Formula to drive a CN2 (per the Group CN classification) Sports prototype in the V de V Proto Endurance Challenge for the remainder of the 2012 season, where he won his inaugural race in the 4 Heures du Castellet.[4]
In 2013, Latif remained with Avelon Formula in the V de V Proto Endurance Challenge, while also competing in the opening rounds of the SPEED Euroseries. Latif won the 6 Hours of Mugello with teammate Ivan Bellarosa in front of the team's home crowd.[5] They later went on to win the opening rounds of the Speed Euroseries at the Hungaroring.[6]
In 2014 Latif signed with Flying Lizard Motorsports to race at the Daytona 24 Hours in the number 35 Audi R8 LMS, where they finished 5th in the GTD class.[7]
Latif competed in the 2014 12 Hours Sebring in Florida on 12–15 March, where they finished 8th in the GTD class.[8]
Latif also joins with Phoenix Racing for Blancpain Sprint Series alongside Marc Basseng.[9][10]
Latif was set to race a Nissan Zytec in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race on 14–15 June with the Greaves Motorsport Team.[11] However, after starting 26th on the 54-car grid, the team achieved a top 10 position before their efforts were thwarted after a blameless collision by a co-driver on lap 31 ended the race for them.[12]
Racing record
US Endurance results
| Year | Race | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Daytona 24 Hours |  Flying Lizard Motorsports |
Seth Neiman Dion von Moltke Filipe Albuquerque |
Audi R8 LMS | GTD | 22nd | 5th |
| 2014 | Sebring 12 Hours | Flying Lizard Motorsports |
 Nelson Canache Jr. Spencer Pumpelly Markus Winkelhock |
Audi R8 LMS | GTD | 33rd | 8th |
| 2014 | Petit Le Mans | Flying Lizard Motorsports |
Seth Neiman Dion von Moltke |
Audi R8 LMS | GTD | 36th | 12th |
Blancpain Sprint Series results
| Year | Race | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Pro Am Qual. Race Pos. |
Pro Am Main Race Pos. |
Overall Qual. Race Pos. |
Overall Main Race Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Blancpain Sprint Series at Nogaro (Circuit Paul Armagnac) | Phoenix Racing |
Marc Basseng |
Audi R8 LMS | GT3 | n/a | n/a | 11th | 9th |
| 2014 | Blancpain Sprint Series at Brands Hatch (Brands Hatch) | Phoenix Racing |
Marc Basseng |
Audi R8 LMS | GT3 | 1st | 1st | 10th | 11th |
| 2014 | Blancpain Sprint Series at Zandvoort (Zandvoort) | Phoenix Racing |
Marc Basseng |
Audi R8 LMS | GT3 | 2nd | 2nd | 10th | 13th |
| 2014 | Blancpain Sprint Series at Slovakia Ring (Automotodróm Slovakia Ring) | Phoenix Racing |
Marc Basseng |
Audi R8 LMS | GT3 | 1st | 1st | 8th | 7th |
| 2014 | Blancpain Sprint Series at Portimao (Portimao Circuit) | Phoenix Racing |
Marc Basseng |
Audi R8 LMS | GT3 | 1st | 1st | 11th | 8th |
Note: classified as Pro for the Nogaro race
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Greaves Motorsport |
Michael Munemann James Winslow |
Zytek Z11SN-Nissan | LMP2 | 31 | DNF | DNF |
References
- "Ivan Bellarosa : Une grande satisfaction au Paul Ricard". endurance-info.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- "Flying Lizard Announces Rolex 24 Lineup". IMSA. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- "Alessandro takes clean sweep at Genk". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
- "Wolf GBO8 victory 4hrs du Castellet". wolfracingcars.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- "Mugello Protos : Wolf (Bellarosa/Latif)". endurance-info.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- "Latif-Bellarosa win in Hungary". speedeuroseries.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- "Flying Lizard Completes Rolex 24 at Daytona". Lizardms.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- "Marlborough College student Alessandro Latif an honourable 8th in 12 Hours of Sebring". Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- "@AlessandroLatif". twitter.com.
- "Latif to contest Blancpain "Sprint" series in Phoenix Racing Audi". boxscorenews.com. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
- Morshead, Sam. "Student Latif handed Le Mans chance". This is Wiltshire. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- "Latif's Le Mans dream stalls after accident". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
External links
- Official website
- Alessandro Latif career summary at DriverDB.com