Cumbrian Frank Bird takes on Valentino Rossi in Gulf 12 Hour

MotoGP icon Rossi is competing in the Gulf 12 Hour endurance race in Abu Dhabi.

And Penrith racer Bird will also be in the field after coming out on top in the AMG Young Driver Test event in Spain last week.

Bird, 24, and 21-year-old Italian Lorenzo Ferrari got the better of strong competition among a field of 22 talented young drivers from across the world.

The event was held at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia, with all the participants holding a Gold or Silver FIA classification. 

Bird, representing the Haupt Racing Team (HRT), and his fellow competitors were coached on site by a team of Mercedes-AMG Performance drivers, each of whom was assigned to a different group.

After their impressive performances, Cumbrian Bird and Ferrari will now share a cockpit in the Gulf 12 Hours which forms the season finale of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli, on the weekend of December 8-10 at the YAS Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, which is also the home of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Frank Bird beat 20 other drivers at the Young Driver Test event in Spain (Image: PBM Motorsport)

The car will be entered by the GruppeM Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing team, with their professional co-driver set to be Austrian Lucas Auer.

Rossi, a nine-times  MotoGP champion, will be making his debut appearance in the Middle East race, driving a BMW.
 
Bird said: “I am very happy with the result of the Young Driver Test.

“It's an honour to have been given this opportunity by HRT and I felt very comfortable with the team.

“We worked hard, focused on ourselves and ultimately put in a great performance.

“Many thanks to the whole team and to Luca Stolz, who helped me a lot as my driver coach. I'm looking forward to competing in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the Gulf 12 Hours.

“In Lorenzo Ferrari and Lucas Auer, we have a good line-up and we hope to bring home the best possible result."