TEEN titan of dragster racing Brad Jackson is tracking national success after an agonising loss in the European Championships.

Still in his rookie season, the 14-year-old Jackson surged into the full European Championships final at the Santa Pod course in Northampton.

The starting sequence is based on a Christmas tree formation of lights flashing amber, amber, amber –- then green for go.

But in anticipating the rush for green, the Naburn-based speed king was just 1,000th of a second too early prompting a red-light.

Even though he went on to win the quarter-mile straight-tracked showdown by some distance, his fractionally premature start sent meant he had to be content with runners-up place.

The Fulford School pupil’s achievement was all the more impressive in that a late arrival at the course meant he missed practice on the first day. He was then was out of luck when rain washed away the second day before managing to squeeze in one attempt which he did by a reaction time of 0.012 of a second to make the final.

Said his dad Wayne Jackson: “To think he barely had any preparation, making the final was a great feat.

“Even on the day we left we were late setting off because he had been attending an engineering course at York High School.”

However, Jackson junior, who finished third in the national Apira Junior Championship at the Shakespeare Country raceway at Stratford-on-Avon, will return to the Santa Pod circuit next week for the final round of the UK Junior Dragster Championships.

Currently lying eighth, just a handful of points separate the leading pack of drivers, meaning he could eke out a podium place.

European men’s champion Andy Carter, who has provided some solo sponsorship for the Fulford School prospect, set a new record in the European Championships. He zipped along the quarter-mile track in just 4.57 seconds at a highest speed of 320mph.