Lake District-born Frank Bird was in action at the final round of the 2016 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 which was held at Estoril this weekend where he posted a pair of impressive results.
The 17-year-old Be Wiser, Hager and Frank Bird Poultry-backed driver originally from Penrith was making his
debut in a European Championship race after a hectic season in the highly competitive BTCC-supporting MSA F4 British Championship and was confident going into the races.
However, the mixed weather conditions which had plagued him all season travelled with him over to Portugal but despite a few problems on the damp track, Bird was impressive as he brought the car home in 15th place in the opening race on Saturday which he backed up with a top twenty placing in race two yesterday.
Frank Bird: “It was a really enjoyable but tough weekend as I expected. On Friday, my pace was quite good during practice in the dry conditions, then the rain came for the Saturday. In qualifying, the first few laps were good and I was sat in 16th but then I made a small mistake causing me to spin and retire from the session. As a result, I ended up last to qualify because of people improving as it dried slightly. Race one was difficult because the track was too dry for wets and a bit too wet for slicks, so we went for slicks and it was really slippery but I ended up finishing in 15th. For race two on Sunday, I qualified in 21st and that was really wet and slippery which I found difficult but brought the car home safely in 20th. I’d like to say a big thanks to my sponsors, my dad Paul and to Fortec for giving me this opportunity.”
Paul Bird, PBM Team Owner: “Frank drove really well in very demanding conditions and it looked as if he’d driven the car all year. He was so smooth and mastered the tricky conditions well on his debut at the track in his first competitive outing in Europe. The results were even more impressive when you consider the opposition and to see his name above the likes of Will Palmer and Lando Norris on the results sheet says a lot. He’s done a great job and I am very proud of him.”
Results – Race 1
1 W. Palmer 28m 03.515s
2 H. de Sadeleer 28:09.699
3 R. Shwartzman 28:15.397
4 A. Peroni 28:11.291
5 D. Boccolacci 28:12.096
6 H. Scott 28:12.998
7 S. Fenestraz 28:13.431
8 B. Baptista 28:18.632
9 M. Armstrong 28:19.267
10 J. Daruvala 28:19.513
11 N. Troitskiy 28:20.131
12 J. Falchero 28:26.512
13 A. Korneev 28:34.497
14 G. Cordeel 28:43.992
15 F. Bird 28:53.028
16 L. Norris 29:13.937
17 H. Chaves Jr 29:43.580
18 M. Defourny 26:18.478 (1 lap)
19 F. Habsburg 26:36.363 (1 lap)
A. Vartanyan DNF
G. Aubry DNF
J. Allen DNF
Results – Race 2
1 S. Fenestraz 27m 25.170s
2 L. Norris 27:27.134
3 M. Defourny 27:31.493
4 D. Boccolacci 27:36.489
5 H. Chaves Jr 27:40.768
6 R. Shwartzman 27:41.167
7 H. de Sadeleer 27:46.827
8 H. Scott 27:49.228
9 B. Baptista 27:56.145
10 M. Armstrong 27:57.165
11 J. Daruvala 27:57.608
12 J. Falchero 27:58.020
13 J. Allen 27:58.805
14 F.Habsburg 27:59.500
15 G. Aubry 28:00.274
16 N.Troitskiy 28:03.360
17 A.Vartanyan 28:05.741
18 A. Peroni 28:08.196
19 A. Korneev 28:08.533
20 F. Bird 28:08.983
21 G. Cordeel 28:10.075
22 W. Palmer 29:10.706
For further information, please visit www.pbmuk.net
Pictures attached (Paul Bird Motorsport/Jakob Ebrey)
