Penrith-born racing driver Frank Bird continued his meteoric rise when he claimed a superb victory on today’s TJS Self Drive Alan Healy Memorial Rally at Cadwell Park and in doing so made it an unprecedented four wins in a row.
The event formed the fifth round of the 2019/2020 Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship with MSVR and after claiming a comprehensive victory by over a minute, the 20-year-old Cumbrian, along with Hexham co-driver Jack Morton, catapulted themselves to the head of the standings.
The pair finished second in the corresponding event last year in Frank’s third ever event back in April but such has been his prowess since, today’s victory adds to those on the Knockhill Stages and Christmas Stages events in December and also last month’s MGJ Engineering Brands Hatch Winter Stages.
In the Dom Buckley Motorsport-prepared Ford Focus WRC07, with backing from VisionTrack, Yuasa, Frank Bird Poultry, Hager, Mac Tools, Fuchs Silkolene and PBM, conditions at the Lincolnshire track were a bit tricky early on meaning Frank had to settle for second best on the opening two stages but once he hit the front on SS3, he wasn’t bettered.
Gradually increasing his lead by winning the remaining seven stages, the margin of victory at the finish was a comprehensive 76 seconds meaning he holds the advantage in the title race going into the next round at Snetterton in just two weeks’ time.
Frank Bird: “Overall, we have had a really good day at Cadwell Park, and I’m delighted to get another win. This morning was a bit tricky with wet conditions and a stall on a hairpin cost us some time early on but once we got over that, it went great. We had a mega afternoon just chipping away to win by over a minute. The car was again brilliant so as ever, thanks to Jack for another great job on the maps, the lads for keeping the car sweet and of course my dad and all our sponsors. That’s four wins in a row now so I’m really looking forward to continuing the run at the next round.”
For further information, please visit the team website: www.pbmuk.net
Pictures attached copyright free, courtesy of Kevin Money
