Teenage Cumbrian driver Frank Bird played his part as the new Ciceley Motorsport GT team emerged victorious from the Creventic 2 Hour of Dubai.

Penrith-born Bird made his debut in the front-wheel drive Generation 4 Renault Clio UK Cup car.

The 18-year-old teamed-up with Adam Morgan, the team’s Renault Clio UK front-runner Max Coates, and experienced German Harald Rettich as well as GT expert Adam Hatfield, Max Bird and Jake Giddings.

A successful qualifying session set the team up for the race.

And, despite the conditions in the Middle East which saw them encounter a number of problems throughout the race, the drivers - including Bird - performed brilliantly to take victory after completing 509 laps.

“What a fantastic experience and to come away with a class victory is brilliant for the whole team as a massive amount of effort has been expended to achieve this,” Bird said.

“Driving front wheel drive for the first time was great and thanks to Adam for the superb tuition before we left for the event.

“I’ve learned a lot about everything to do with racing this week and to get my first major win is a dream come true.

“Thanks to the whole Ciceley Motorsport team as well as Paul Bird Motorsport [PBM] for the opportunity. It’s the first win of the season and I hope we can have many more.”

This weekend, PBM owner Paul Bird, Frank’s father, will be back in rally action where he is seeded at car number three for the Darlington and District Motor Club-organised Jack Frost Stages Rally in association with Cartersport.

With County Durham co-driver Jack Morton on the maps in the Dom Buckley Motorsport/IRS-prepared Ford Focus WRC08, Paul has won the Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire-based event four times in the past. So, he will be looking to add a fifth victory to his tally.

The event gets under way at 9am on Sunday.