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

Jackson on a high

York’s Brad Jackson, forefront, on the start line

Yorks’S drag-racing ace Brad Jackson is a low-rider on a high, writes Tony Kelly.

The 17-year-old remains in second place in the nationals championship in his first season as a professional driver.

Qualifying in 13th place from 37 cars at the championships at the Santa Pod circuit near Northampton, he was then drawn in the head to head stage of the weekend event against team-mate and mentor Dave Catton in the sister car of the Lucas Oil/Nick Good Motorsport team.

With no team orders in the first round of eliminations, a tight duel was eagerly anticipated.

Catton, perhaps excited by the prospect of racing his protégé, was red-lit by two-thousandths of a second to hand an easy victory to Jackson in the first encounter of Lucas Oil dragsters.

However, then the rains fell and the rest of the event was cancelled, though not without the York ace confirming his second place in the title race.

Yorks’S drag-racing ace Brad Jackson is a low-rider on a high, writes Tony Kelly.

The 17-year-old remains in second place in the nationals championship in his first season as a professional driver.

Qualifying in 13th place from 37 cars at the championships at the Santa Pod circuit near Northampton, he was then drawn in the head to head stage of the weekend event against team-mate and mentor Dave Catton in the sister car of the Lucas Oil/Nick Good Motorsport team.

With no team orders in the first round of eliminations, a tight duel was eagerly anticipated.

Catton, perhaps excited by the prospect of racing his protégé, was red-lit by two-thousandths of a second to hand an easy victory to Jackson in the first encounter of Lucas Oil dragsters.

However, then the rains fell and the rest of the event was cancelled, though not without the York ace confirming his second place in the title race.

Published in”The Press” on

Set For Seniors

Brad Jackson & In action

Speed ace Brad Jackson is primed for maximum impact in the world of senior drag car racing.

After an illustrious four-year career on the British junior dragster circuit, the Naburn-based teenager has joined the successful Nick Good Motorsport for the new season which starts this at the Santa Pod Raceway near Northampton.

Jackson will helm the third car in the team, which is the only three-car Super Pro team in Europe.

And after testing at the Santa Pod circuit this past week, the team are raring to go, agreed driver and his dad Wayne Jackson, who is the team principal.

Said the 17-year-old driver, who is an apprentice motor technician for DM Keith Skoda in York: “I have competed in UK Junior Dragster class for the last four years.

“Moving up to Super Pro, I have already gained my licence for 2014 with a best run from a standing start of 7.78 seconds at 171 miles per hour over a quarter-mile.”

Said Jackson senior: “The car is all new and been fully prepared for the 2014 season by Nick Good Motorsport.

“We had the car livery and design commissioned by Pete Walters race design and Brad will be contesting all the rounds of the new season.”

The youngster, who has sponsorship from Lucas Oil and American Oil, an automotive products company, will be seeking a similarly meteoric rise in the senior ranks as he enjoyed as a junior.

Among his achievements over the last four years were winner of the 2013 FIA main event, fifth in the UK Lucas Oil National Championship 2012, winner at the Big Bang event in 2011 when he was also fourth in the UK National Championship 2011 and runner-up in the FIA European finals four years ago.

The Brad Jackson Racing Ltd team, which runs under the motto of “results, respect, excellence, integrity”, is completed by Jackson senior as team principal, Nick Good the crew chief, Cristiann Carlo and Dave Catton, the latter a mentor of the high-speed teenager.

For those petrol-heads of a technical mind, the car is a Worthy Dragster from the United States, standing almost 20 feet long. It boasts a Big Block Chevrolet V8 Enderle methanol-injected engine of 9,258cc and capable of 940 bhp.

Jackson junior’s licensing run is featured in a slo-mo video on his Facebook page on the item bradjacksonracing.com.

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 

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