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“Since my high school days, I have always enjoyed outdoor activities and extreme sports, such as scuba diving, freediving, surf skating and wake surfing. Realising that I had a passion for extreme sports, my dad suggested that I try race car driving. He’s an avid motorsports fan and foresaw that I would take a liking to racing. I guess it was also my parents’ way of providing an outlet for the speed demon in me – they would rather I race on the tracks in a car built to protect me and with a safety team that is always on standby than have me speeding down Bangkok’s highways!

One of my favourite things to do while I was still taking racing classes was to hit the Bira Circuit in Pattaya with my dad as part of our weekend activities. In 2020, I decided to participate in the Idemitsu Super Turbo racing event at Chang International Circuit in Buriram. That was my racing debut. I came in third in the division 3 NA junior race and fourth in the overall division 3 race. I’ll never forget the rush, the adrenaline, the feeling of being with other race car drivers and the sense of overcoming a challenge. After that, I was hooked.

To excel in the sport, practice is important. Usually, two days before a race, I’ll drive for two hours to Bira Circuit or five hours to Chang International Circuit so I can practice on the race track.

A lot of people think that racing is about speed, but it really is about staying focused, anticipating and navigating the bends in the road, and applying just the right amount of brake. Brake too much and you lose momentum. Brake too little and you might crash into a wall. I’ve crashed a couple of times. The thing about crashing is that you always know when it’s about to happen, but there is really nothing you can do except to let go of the wheel. I’ve learned the hard way that if I don’t let go in time, I usually end up hurting my wrists on impact.

There still aren’t a lot of women in motorsports, but I have seen more girls taking it up in the last few years, which is encouraging. There are also pro drivers like Nutjung Tanchanok and Nattanid Leewattanavalagul who are making their mark and they are an inspiration to girls like me.

I’m grateful to have this opportunity. I hope I can continue racing for as long as I can, because the one thing racing has taught me is that no challenge is ever too tough to overcome. It’s always possible to learn to do something you thought was impossible.”

This profile was compiled by Norasikin Bte Ahmad from the Lazada Regional Communications team.

Koonlanan Hongsakul (Earng), 24, Community Manager, Lazada Thailand