Bird Replaces Panciatici at 2 Seas for 24H Spa

Frank Bird has been inserted into the lineup of the No. 60 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, replacing Nelson Panciatici.

The British racer joins Isa Al Khalifa, Martin Kodric and Lewis Williamson aboard the Gold Cup-entered car, which is one of 14 representing Mercedes-AMG in the centenary edition of the event.

He fills the fourth driver role that was previously held by two-time European Le Mans Series LMP2 champion Panciatici, as Al Khalifa, Kodric and Williamson form the full-season Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup lineup for the team.

Bird, a Mercedes-AMG junior driver, is set for his second consecutive Intercontinental GT Challenge appearance after he contested the Nürburgring 24 with Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein.

Prior to that, he raced in last year’s Lenovo Gulf 12 Hours with GruppeM Racing alongside Lorenzo Ferrari and Lucas Auer.

Winward Racing, meanwhile, has opted to scale back its driver crew for the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo from four to three drivers.

FIA World Endurance Championship racer Esteban Masson was originally set to pilot the Silver Cup entry together with Daan Arrow, Colin Caresani and Tanart Sathienthirakul, but has been removed from the lineup.

Fellow Silver Cup squad Madpanda Motorsport is yet to finalize the driver combination for its No. 90 car, as the team still has one outstanding TBA alongside Patrick Assenheimer, Karol Basz and Ezequiel Perez Companc.