European Finals Update
Today was the first qualifying session for the European Finals at Santa Pod, Brad has finished today in eighth place with a time of 0.007 ( seven thousands of a second ) and the 32nd place bump spot is one tenth of a second !
Valuable Points
Brad Jackson collects valuable points at his first European drag racing event
Brad Jackson Keeping Dry !
Tough of the track Brad Jackson might not have been zinging in the rain, but he was singing in the rain.
Appearing in his first European drag racing meeting as a professional, the 17 year-old Naburn ace collected valuable points from an event that was eventually washed out by the Bank Holiday deluge.
A total of 47 cars vied for the 32 qualification places at the FIA main European event at the Santa Pod raceway, near Northampton.
Lucas Oli driver Jackson’s first day of qualifying found him in an impressive 19th place after three.
The next day, proceedings were hampered by intermittent rain all day leaving the youngster with just one more chance to improve. However, a timing error by his dad, and team principal, Wayne Jackson, dropped him to 25th place, though still well placed to make the final day’s racing.
Jackson excelled in his first race, a fine reaction time of 0.04 of a second enabling him to beat experienced German opponent Marc Henney to book a place in the last 16.
His next clash put him up against Nick Good Motorsport team-mate Dave Catton, who were in identical cars and not hampered by pre-set team orders.
But one of the most anticipated duels of the day was rained off, though Jackson’s reward was a stack of valuable points
Published in”The Press” on Thursday 29th May 2014
Seeking European Place ?
Brad Jackson is presented with an award by Rachel Hodges, one of the staff at the Shakespeare circuit
AFTER just two outings as a professional Naburn teenager Brad Jackson is seeking a place at the summit of European drag racing.
The 17-year-old, who this spring launched himself into the pro circuit after four trophy-laden seasons as a junior, has made a superb impact.
Jackson is currently in third position of the UK Super Pro championship after the opening two rounds, his latest success being at the Shakespeare County Raceway at Stratford-up[on-Avon.
Following a points-gathering debut at the Festival of Power meeting staged by the Santa Pod track, Jackson – the focal point of the Brad Jackson Racing Team of which his dad Wayne is the team principal – surged to two more round wins in Shakespeare country.
That propelled the apprentice motor technician for York-based DM Keith Skoda, to the semi-finals, which he comfortably negotiated to set up a clash against Scott Hauser, the 2013 UK Super Pro champion.
Though Jackson drove the USA-built Worthy Dragster car expertly, he lost out by a mere four-hundreths of a second.
However, that advance to the last two showdown still nudged him into a challenging position for his next date with speed – the FIA European round back at Santa Pod over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend.
So far a total of 47 entries featuring the cream of drivers from across Europe have been declared.
But there are just 32 places available for the final rounds, so Jackson will face a stern test to attain final race qualification.
Said Jackson senior: “Brad and the team had a great weekend at the Shakespeare track with Brad putting in several superb performances.
“Now we have the main event with the European round and Brad and the the rest of us are relishing the challenge.”
Published in”The Press” on Saturday 10th May 2014
