Cumbrian Frank Bird dominated the latest round of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship with MSVR.

The Penrith driver produced an impressive performance at Brands Hatch in the MGJ Engineering Brands Hatch Winter Stages Rally.

In the fourth qualifying round of the series, Bird followed his victory in the opening and third rounds by claiming victory by over a minute.

Bird and co-driver Jack Morton led from the off despite a misty and icy start, and comfortably won all eight stages at the famous Kent venue.

In doing so, Bird retained his MGJ Engineering Brands Hatch Winter Stages Rally crown and, along with Hexham-born Morton, has a winning tally of 14 outright victories and three MSN rounds in a row.

Bird said: “What a fantastic way to start the year.

“I spent most of the morning blowing the cobwebs off as I’ve not driven in over a month but once we got into the groove, it all came together and I felt comfortable in the car.

“It was very slippery all day, so I didn’t take too many risks and came out with the win.

“The car never missed a beat and as ever, thanks to Jack on the maps, the whole team headed by Neil Buckley and of course my dad and our loyal sponsors.”

Results – The MGJ Engineering Brands Hatch Winter Stages Rally

1 Frank Bird/Jack Morton (Ford Fiesta Rally2)

2 John Stone/Tom Woodburn (VW Polo R5) +1 min 17 secs

3 Neil Roskell/Andrew Roughead (Ford Fiesta R5) +1:22

4 John Griffiths/Tom Rogers (Ford Fiesta R5) +1:46

5 Andy Scott/ Laura Connell (Ford Fiesta) +1:48

6 Joshua Davey/Tamsyn Davey (Darrian T90) +2.26