WEC: Bird ecstatic with dream G-Drive Racing debut victory

Sam Bird hails his maiden LMP2 victory as a dream come true after his G-Drive Racing team claimed a dominant one-two finish at the Silverstone 6 Hours at the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener.

The Briton claimed the class win with fellow G-Drive Racing co-drivers Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal in the number 26 Ligier JS P2 a full lap ahead of its number 28 sister car.

The former GP2 runner-up started from the front row of the LMP2 grid but lost the lead on the opening lap. However, Bird quickly regained P1 in class in his opening stint and the number 26 gradually pulled out a healthy lead on the rest of the field.

"Today was race day at Silverstone, my first race with G-Drive Racing in LMP2, and it couldn't have gone any better," Bird beamed. "We've had a one-two finish, with car 26 coming home with the win and car 28 in second. I couldn't have dreamt of a better start to the season, so congratulations to everybody involved with G-Drive Racing."

Bird is set to combine his G-Drive Racing commitments with competing with Virgin Racing in the inaugural Formula E championship. The 28-year-old has graduated from competing in the GTE Am class after claiming third place with AF Corse at Silverstone last year.

G-Drive team principal Philippe Dumas says he is delighted wit progress made from pre-season testing and feels the one-two finish was due reward for the team's efforts.

"I'm very pleased with the way we've worked during the winter tests and how we approached this race," Dumas said. "We've really progressed in all areas; organisation, people, strategy, confidence, and that's what I'm going to retain from this weekend.

"There are still some small details to improve on, but it's part of our work and of races to be able to improve something. It's a nice reward for the amount of work we've done on this car and we're going to continue."