![Hickman scores pleasing Chariots result Hickman scores pleasing Chariots result](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j98Hh85wiUB5yeTBh2fLTR/25cd734a-78eb-4af3-93d6-754689b6451a.jpg/r0_13_960_694_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
BENDIGO’S Rusty Hickman has made an impressive return to Darwin’s Northline Speedway to contest the Chariots of Thunder Sprintcar Series.
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Contesting the series for the second season, this time upgrading from a 360ci to a 410ci engine, teenager Hickman’s consistent performance throughout the five-round series saw him impressively place inside the top five against some formidable opponents.
While it wasn’t the best of starts for the 17-year- old racer, who suffered an unfortunate ‘did not finish’ during the opening round of the series, which doubled as the Make A Wish Cup, and
experienced the same fate the following weekend during the Friday night’s Defend the Top End event, he certainly bounced back the next night in the Pope 65 Bob Ekins Memorial race.
Qualifying out of position two for Saturday night’s feature race after a third and a win from his two heat races, Hickman remained within the top five, battling with the likes of James McFadden and David Murcott, through to the fall of the chequered flag and crossed the finish line in fifth.
Continuing to show good speed throughout qualifying, Hickman picked up another heat-race win on night one of the Northern Territory title.
Hickman lined up fifth for the preliminary feature race, before coming home in sixth.
Heading into the fifth and final night of competition, a second and a sixth-place result during qualifying heat races saw Hickman start the NT title-deciding feature race out of position six, with him making his way up to third in the early stages, before greeting the chequered
flag in a pleasing fifth place, earning him fourth place overall in the Chariots of Thunder Series point score.
“A top-five finish in the Chariots of Thunder Series is a fantastic result, especially since I was up against such a strong field of drivers, so it fills me with a lot of confidence heading into
the season ahead,” said Hickman, whose series highlight was starting alongside McFadden on the front row of a heat race and then going on to defeat him.
“We were consistent throughout the five rounds and managed to qualify within the first three rows of every feature race, which showed our good speed and we were able to come away with some strong results,” he said.
Hickman will now turn his attention to the upcoming 2017-18 season, which is set to get underway at Geelong’s Avalon Raceway on October 14.