Top Five For Frank At Zandvoort
Zandvoort in The Netherlands was the desitination for round three of the ADAC GT Masters Series where once again Cumbrian racing driver Frank Bird was in action and came away with a top five placing.
Driving for MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF, Penrith-born Frank once again teamed up with 18-year-old Finnish driver Elias Seppanen for the two races in the Frank Bird Poultry Ltd-backed Mercedes AMG-GT3.
Having raced at the circuit on the North Sea coast previously, Frank, who was a two-times winner in the GT World Challenge Europe last year, was hopeful of improving on his results at the previous rounds at Oschersleben in Germany and the Red Bull Ring in Austria earlier in the season.
However, in their new green and yellow livery, the ‘Junior Mamba’ drivers had to contend with the notorious Dutch weather during the weekend which started with using the first Free Practice session as acclimatisation on old tyres before setting fastest time in the second Free Practice session.
Rain affected their opening qualifying session to end up in P20 on the grid for the first race, which was a fragmented affair because of the weather and resulted in Bird and Seppanen having to make two pit stops to change tyres, rather than just the one planned. As a result, the pair brought the car home in 17th overall and 11th in the Junior class.
The pair started race two from P18 on the grid but Frank was soon carving his way through the field and with a mature drive to keep out of trouble, he crossed the line in ninth overall but claimed fifth in the Junior class to round off a successful weekend.
Frank Bird: “It was my second time racing at Zandvoort which is a difficult track with some banked corners and usually the weather plays its part. This weekend was no exception and we got caught out by using wets in the opening race, only for it to dry up and it meant we had to make an extra pitstop to change tyres again. Race two was much better, we had a good, clean race and brought the car home safely inside the top ten and fifth place in the Junior class is a good result. Our pace was good, and I hope we can back that up at the Nürburgring so thanks to the team and our sponsors.”
Round four of the series visits the Nurburgring in Germany over the weekend of 5/7 August 2022.
