Kaiden Manders has kicked off the annual Chariots of Thunder Series at the Northline Speedway in Darwin with a fine second placing.
The J&S Drilling team have contested a couple of shakedown meetings at the 402 metre venue and were all set for the opening round of the Chariots of Thunder showdown.
A strong field of 25 cars was in attendance last Saturday evening with Manders clocking a fast time of 12.940 seconds to win the qualifying.
The first heat race saw him lead for seven laps before an unfortunate spin saw him credited with sixth place.
Manders made amends in his next outing - coming out of position six in the 10-lap event and quickly racing up to third spot.
These results meant he had the job ahead of him in the 25-lap main event - starting from position 12 in the 20 car field.
The feature race turned out to be a bit of a slug-fest with five caution light periods occurring before a single racing lap had been completed.
The event ended up being declared after some 40 minutes and with the time well after midnight.
Manders kept out of trouble in the "Make A Wish" main event - quickly moving up to sixth spot.
Around lap 20 he was up to third - and when the leader crashed out he was awarded second place on the podium.
Afterwards Manders commented on the night:-
"The team did a really good job on Saturday - the car was really good. Unfortunately I made a mistake in the first heat and spun which put us on the back foot a bit. The track was really challenging in the feature but I felt the more laps I did the more comfortable I felt in the car and I had some great racing with guys all through the field. I really learnt a lot."
This coming weekend the J&S Drilling team will contest the next two rounds of the Chariots of Thunder Series on Friday and Saturday.

The J&S Drilling W60 team wish to acknowledge the support of their loyal sponsors who enable us to keep on racing.
Many thanks to – Non Stop 24hr Fitness, Neptune Skip Bins, PJW Haulage, S&J Excavations and Mandurah Bolt Supplies, Cowara Contractors.

Press Release
Prepared for J&S Drilling by Ken Brown
0421173271

IMAGE BY SPHYNX PHOTOGRAPHY