A year on from sensationally taking a victory in the Creventic 2 Hour of Dubai, the Lancashire-based Ciceley Motorsport GT team were again in action in the Middle East, this time contesting the Hankook 24H Dubai.

Included in the four-driver team once again was Penrith-born Frank Bird. The 19-year-old was making his endurance racing debut for the team in their Mercedes AMG and was impressive.

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

But, despite the hot and humid conditions in the Middle East and encountering a number of problems throughout the race, the team, including Frank, crossed the line to claim a deserved 10th place in the high-quality GT4 class.

They completed a mammoth 480 laps around the 5.3km Dubai Autodrome track. 

Bird said: “What an experience racing at the Hankook 24H Dubai was. 

“We showed fantastic pace through the weekend, being fastest in every practice and qualifying on pole by quite a margin. 

“I started the race leading every lap of my stint and gaining a 15-second lead by the time we changed driver. The car, unfortunately, was then involved in a crash which put us out of the race for about 20 minutes.” 

“We all did our best to try and catch back up, but a few technical issues hampered our progress,” he added. 

“We were once again fastest car all race but it’s such a shame with what happened. 

“Thanks to all the team for their hard work, my dad [Paul Bird of PBM] and our sponsors.

"I’m looking forward to, hopefully, doing more endurance races in the future."