Two drivers from Thailand have, each in their own way and during two completely different eras of 24 Hours history and of their country, written a page in the great saga of Le Mans.

Prince Bira, the pioneer - Named Birabongse Bhanudej, Prince Bira (1914-1985) was a member of the reigning royal family of Siam, known as Thailand after 1939. After studying in Great Britain at prestigious Eton College, he discovered motorsports with his cousin Prince Chula. Following promising performances (in 1935, he finished second in his very first race, then in the Grand Prix of Donington), he competed in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans with Alfa Romeo in 1939. He revived his racing career after World War II by becoming the first Asian driver to participate in Formula 1, then returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1954 with Aston Martin. Those two participations ended in retirements, but at the 24 Hours he befriended two renowned teammates: French driver Raymond Sommer in 1939 (two-time winner at the 24 Hours in 1932 and 1933) then Peter Collins in 1954 (one of the top British drivers of the nascent Formula 1). After retiring as a driver in 1955, he devoted himself to sailing and participated in the Olympic Games in 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1972.

Tor Graves, the winner - While Prince Bira was the Thai pioneer at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Tor Graves was the first from his country to finish the race. Born in 1972, he debuted in British single-seaters in Formula Renault then in Formula 3, namely with the ADR Delta team with which he competed in the very first World Endurance Championship (WEC) season in 2012. At the wheel of an Oreca 03 entered in the LM P2 class, that year he won three times (Spa-Francorchamps, Fuji and Shanghai) and participated in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans. Along with Australian driver John Martin and Czech driver Jan Charouz, he finished sixth in LM P2 (13th overall). After a retirement in 2013 (still with ADR Delta), he made an impressive return to Le Mans with the Manor team. Thanks to an inspiring choice of tyres for a drying track, the Oreca 05 he shared with Spanish driver Roberto Merhi and the Brit Matthew Rao was leader in the LM P2 class during the first four hours of the race prior to being forced to retire after an incident during the 21st hour.

Click below for the first two installments of this Asian saga:

Le Mans, China and Asia (1) – Towards a new era

Le Mans, China and Asia (2) - Ho-pin Tung and David Cheng, teammates and friends

Photo: For his third participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Thai driver Tor Graves was at the wheel of Manor's Oreca 05-Nissan, a team with which he had already competed in the British Formula 3 Championship in 1999 and 2003.