Cumbrian driver Frank Bird left disappointed despite a promising start when he returned to action in Austria.

Bird was competing in round two of the ADAC GT Masters series at the Red Bull Ring.

Driving for MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF, Penrith-born Bird 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 near Spielberg previously, Frank, who was a two-times winner in the GT World Challenge Europe last year, was confident of improving on his results at the previous round at Oschersleben in Germany last month.

Indeed, Free Practice saw Bird and his team-mate up to sixth overall and fourth in the Junior category but qualifying proved tougher and, in race one, they started from 16th on the grid.

Contact with a car saw him suffer a puncture which relegated him to 20th overall and 12th junior at the chequered flag, before finishing 18th in race two and improving to ninth junior.

He said: “Not the results we had hoped for this weekend which is a shame because it’s a track I like and first one I have experience on this season.

“We made a good step forward in qualifying by closing the gap to the front drivers which was a positive.

“After contact twice and a puncture, race one ended up scrappy and disappointing. Race two was difficult due to being stuck in the pack and it was tricky to follow the cars with the dirty air.

“The weekend didn’t really reflect our pace but thanks to the team for their hard work and of course to my dad and our sponsors for their support too.”