A 14-year-old boy will become Britain's youngest ever racing driver this weekend.

Andrew Gray's record-breaking drive in the British Racing and Sports Car Club's T-Cars event will see him compete at the ripe old age of 14 years and 11 days old.

While most teenagers his age can only dream about passing their driving test, Andrew will be tearing round a track in his souped-up machine at 100mph.

As boyhood dreams go that's not bad, but for Andrew it gets even better. The dyed-in-the-wool Newcastle United fan is also being sponsored by his beloved club.

Andrew, of Cornmoor, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, cannot wait to get on the grid at the Croft racetrack, near Darlington, this weekend where he will take on ten other hopefuls aged 14 to 16-and-a-half.

He said: "It's a dream come true for me. I've wanted to be a racing driver for as long as I can remember. I got my first kart when I was ten but that only went up to 60mph.

"The T-Car class is completely different. Before I start the race tomorrow I'm bound to be pretty nervous because it is something new."

Andrew was so impressed with heroes such as Ayrton Senna that he wanted to start karting at the age of eight. However, his dad, David, made him wait to his 10th birthday.

Since then, Andrew never been out of top gear.

The Park View Community School pupil was given special dispensation to sit the Association of Racing School test last month and passed with flying colours a few days short of his 14th birthday.

Andrew's mum, Sheila, said that despite safety measures including a harness, roll cage and body panels, she will still be nervous when he gets behind the wheel.

"The first time I saw him karting I was really nervous - I still am. But when I saw how much it means to him, and how much confidence he gets from it, I let him get on with it."

Sponsored by Newcastle United and Wynyard Developments, his car has been put together by DAC Motorsport, of Darlington, and will be ready for action for Andrew's first race tomorrow afternoon.