Tonight at the Perth Motorplex Kaiden Manders had one thing on his mind: victory. And in what was near on a perfect night for the youngster, he achieved the goal and claimed the feature race win!

Manders grabbed second in the opening heat behind Keenan Fleming, then grabbed the win in heat two to set up a pole position start in the twenty lap final alongside Keenan Fleming.

As the race went green though it was Tom Payet who blasted by everyone from his position three spot, moving into the lead immediately to pass both Manders and Fleming.

Payet, Manders, Fleming and Dan Golding were the top four and began to pull away from the rest of the field, the race quickly setting into a rhythm and Payet beginning to pull away.

Almost as if from nowhere, Manders began to close the gap at a rate of knots and all of a sudden he shot around the outside of Payet on the front straight with six complete to steal the lead.

Manders then took his turn at the front as he too looked to race away. Cars were spread out across the field, with the closest cars being a three car battle for eight between Ross Heywood, Lee Austen and Cory Smith for a number of laps until Smith broke away.

Just as it appeared the race would go green to chequers, the yellows came out with fourteen complete as Patrick Watson, who was running in seventh, came to a sudden stop in turn three.

Luckily, he was able to restart and because all the cars behind him were a lap down, he was able to maintain his position upon the resumption of the race.

The race would resume with the front order remaining the same, but Smith then passed Watson on the next circulation before spinning and being t boned by Watson who had nowhere to go, returning racer Stuart Yates also stopping to avoid.

Under the yellows Beau Doyle also headed infield with a flat tyre, while eventually Watson would also head infield before we were able to resume once more.

Payet slid under Manders and stole the lead as the race restarted, the two not giving each other an inch as they fought for the lead, but it was all for naught as Ross Heywood and Yates spun together in turn four to bring out the yellows once again.

Payet attempted the same move on the next restart but this time Manders powered away around the outside to hold the lead with Payet close by, while behind them Dan Golding snuck past Fleming for third.

From here, and although the racing remained close, there were no more position changes, Manders going on to claim the win from Payet and Golding. Fleming held on for fourth ahead of Travis White, who was followed home by Lee Austen in his best finish yet, and Ross Heywood who rounded out the finishers.

With the results from tonight added into the mix, Tom Payet now leads the Perth Motorplex Track Championship by forty three points over Keenan Fleming with Beau Doyle third another sixty one points further back.

Speedcars now have a bit of a break prior to their next show, which is again at the Perth Motorplex, this time on the 12th of March for the Legends/Retro night!

Release by DTN Media.

Pics Courtesy Cochrane Photography and WASDA Media.

Official Results

Heat One, 8 laps: 1. Keenan Fleming, 2. Kaiden Manders, 3. Tom Payet, 4. Cory Smith, 5. Daniel Golding, 6. Patrick Watson, 7. Beau Doyle, 8. Stuart Yates, 9. Gary Mann. DNF: Travis White (6), Ross Heywood (5), Tom Callaghan (5). DNS: Lee Austen. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.367. Fastest Lap: 16.621 Kaiden Manders.

Heat Two, 8 laps: 1. Kaiden Manders, 2. Daniel Golding, 3. Tom Payet, 4. Keenan Fleming, 5. Beau Doyle, 6. Cory Smith, 7. Patrick Watson, 8. Lee Austen, 9. Stuart Yates. DNF: Gary Mann (1). DNS: Ross Heywood, Travis White, Tom Callaghan. Total Time: 2.13.185. Winning Margin: 1.191. Fastest Lap: 16.402 Dan Golding.

Feature, 20 laps: 1. Kaiden Manders, 2. Tom Payet, 3. Dan Golding, 4. Keenan Fleming, 5. Travis White, 6. Lee Austen (19), 7. Ross Heywood (19). DNF: Stuart Yates (14), Beau Doyle (15), Patrick Watson (15), Cory Smith (14). DNS: Tom Callaghan, Gary Mann. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.753. Fastest Lap: 16.358 Kaiden Manders.