FRANK BIRD MAKES SWITCH TO MSA FORMULA


CATEGORIES:

Bird makes his single seater debut this season with Fortec – Photo: Jakob Ebrey

Frank Bird is to contest the 2016 Ford MSA Formula season with Fortec Motorsports. The 16 year-old enters the single-seater fraternity after a 2015 which saw him compete in the Ginetta Junior Championship.

His signing completes Fortec’s 2016 Ford MSA Formula driver line-up. It includes Formula Kart Stars champion Ross Martin, Dane Nicolai Kjaergaard and Alex Quinn who is backed by the Racing Steps Foundation.

Bird joins Jamie Caroline in making the switch to the Ford EcoBoost-powered series. He has high hopes of emulating the on-track success of his father Paul Bird who had a prolific racing career on both four and two wheels. Nevertheless, he is keen to temper expectations for his first year in the series.

Said Bird: “2016 will be a learning year. I know the season is going to be tough, but I know I will have a great team around me supporting me all the way and I’m looking forward to seeing how I fare against fellow Ginetta Junior graduate Jamie Caroline.

“The Ford MSA Formula is an ideal series in which to start my single-seater career. It really is exciting times, to be racing with the Fortec team and competing in motorsport where my Dad has such a great background. Plus I’ve got some fantastic sponsors on board for 2016 including Be Wiser Insurance, Mac Tools and Frank Bird Poultry.”

Fortec Motorsports team manager Dan Mitchell echoed the sentiments of Frank, emphasising that 2016 would be very much about development: “Frank has spent a year competing in Ginetta Juniors and hasn’t done any karting so in many respects he’s a proper single-seater rookie. We took him on last summer and he’s been working with us a lot as part of our driver development programme.

“The target for this season is constant improvement and to get him to the front of the Ford MSA Formula grid within two years. As long as he keeps improving throughout the year we will be happy. I would like to think that in his second season he’ll be a strong favourite for the title.”

Alex Battipaglia


CLUB PARTNERS

Race Entries
& Membership