Bird shows title credentials at Spa (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Bird shows title credentials at Spa

12:51pm Monday 30th July 2007 in Sport

Claygate's Sam Bird enhanced his British Formula 3 International Championship title hopes with an impressive win at the demanding Spa Francorchamps circuit last weekend.

Victory on his maiden race at the track - a favourite with driving greats the world over - was followed by third place in a heavily rain-affected second event.

The 20-year-old now has eight podiums to his credit, including two wins, in the series, to be sitting second behind Estonian Marko Asmer.

Bird qualified third on the grid for race one and, by Eau Rouge, he was in the lead, only to lose it again to pole-sitter Stephen Jelley.

He got a good tow to pass him again on lap three and, from there, the BP Ultimate driver ,pushed hard to establish a 3.5-second advantage on the field, leading all the way to the chequered flag.

"Sam did a fantastic job," said team boss Trevor Carlin.

"It was a very mature performance for a rookie.

Bird dedicate the win to a friend and neighbour, Val, who died recently.

In the second race, the youngster again started third on the grid.

Persistent rain up to the time of the race forced a rolling start behind the safety car.

After two laps, the race order was the same as the qualifying positions and, once the safety car went in, the rain was teeming down on a despondant crowd.

"It was like having two sheets of tracing paper in front of my visor," Bird said.

"At one point, I was moving all over the track just to try to get a view of the drivers ahead of me.

"There was no point trying to push for an overtaking manoeuvre that could have gone wrong, so I settled for third place, my second podium of the weekend and a good points haul."

A crash on lap four brought out the safety car again, and it stayed out until the chequered flag, reducing the race to something of a procession.

Bird's next race is the Zandvoort Masters at Zolder this weekend.

The action from Spa will be screened on Channel 4 this Sunday at 8am.