BLACKBURN-based teenager Tom Bradshaw is setting the world of motorsport alight - but he is still to pass his driving test!

The 17-year-old won the 2006 North West Formula Ford C Class Championship and has just tested for Formula Palmer Audi at Bedford Autodrome - finishing just half a second off the lap record held by 2005 FPA Champion Joe Tandy.

But while he's happy whizzing around Britain's top circuits, he's not legally allowed to drive on the region's roads yet, although he's hoping that changes tomorrow when he sits his driving test.

Bradshaw said: "Learning to drive is a lot different because there's cars coming towards you. I can drive the car fine, but it's been really strange learning the rules of the road."

Following in his dad's tyre marks, Bradshaw initially took up karting as a hobby in a bid to join his father John, who races Classic Formula 3 cars.

But he soon became hooked, and while he endured a less-than-successful season in the Junior Rotax Championship, he moved up to the NW Formula Ford Championship at Oulton Park and Anglesey.

And even though he was the youngest competitor at just 16, he cruised to victory, despite crashing out on the first corner in his very first race.

Tom said: "It was weird because once I got out on the circuit I forgot who everyone was and how old they were. They were just other competitors as far as I was concerned.

"I put it on pole in the first race, but I made just one corner and crashed.

"A couple of races after that didn't go too well and then suddenly something clicked and straight away I built up some consistency. I won the last nine rounds and I knew three quarters of the way through the season that I'd won the Championship. It was a brilliant feeling and, because the pressure was off in the last few races, I enjoyed it even more."

Bradshaw even managed to squeeze in races in the Historic Formula Ford 2000 series where he came up against his dad and he admitted it had got a "bit dicey" between the two on several occasions.

The Turton Colleage sixth form student has tested for the Formula Ford Duratech team as well as the Audi outfit.

But he said he was keen to take part in the 2007 FPA Championship, which takes in 20 races all over the UK, kicking off at Silverstone on April 7.

And he was backed by FPA series boss and former Formula 1 driver Jonathan Palmer, who said: "Tom set a very fast time and put in a very professional drive for a young driver."

Anyone interested in sponsoring Tom can contact him on 01254 263000.