The afternoon was warm and fine, with the rack warm and appearing to be grippy.

With an outside grid position of sixth, Team Green Racing's Robert Green knew he was always likely to be vulnerable to an inside pass at the start of the race. Sure enough, Chris Price poked his nose up the inside into turn one and immediately relegated Robert to seventh place.

At the front, Dale Madden and David Reading had cleared out in a battle of their own, but third to seventh places were running virtually nose to tail, and continued to do so throughout the race. Steve Crocker passed David Cramp for third and Chris Price moved into fifth place with a mid race pass on Peter Rogers. Overtaking was proving to be difficult as Robert found out, being forced onto the dirt on the start/finish straight whilst also trying to pass Peter, and the third to seventh freight train was separated by only three seconds at the finish.

Heat two was also held in warm conditions. Geoff Warren discussed tyre strategy with Robert prior to the race and suggested that the pressures being run on new tyres were still too high and a two-pound drop should be considered. This change was duly made and Robert again started heat two from the sixth position on the outside of the grid.

With experience hard learnt from the start of the first heat, Robert knew he would need to defend his position into the first turn more aggressively in the second heat. Again, Chris Price tried to pass up the inside into turn one but Robert blocked the move and held onto sixth place behind Steve Crocker. By lap two Robert was right behind Steve and with a good run exiting the new section of the Orielton track tried to make a pass into Musketts' hairpin. What he hadn't comprehended, though was that there are two lines that can be used into Musketts', the one which Robert uses being run around the outside of the corner prior to a single apex point and the other involving apexing at the first little kink prior to drifting to the outside and then taking the second apex at the same point as method one uses.

As Robert drew alongside Steve he found to his horror that Steve used the second line and was fully intending to use the bit of track that Robert was already occupying. Robert's lack of race experience showed through and he panicked, locked the brake and rode up over the inside curb, totally out of control. Somehow he managed to gather it all up and plonk the kart back onto the track without losing a position or hitting Steve.

Unfortunately this compromised Robert's exit to the corner and he was again relegated to seventh place by Chris Price. Dale Madden and David Reading had cleared out at the front, but as in the first heat third to seventh were nose to tail again. Robert twice passed Chris Price into Musketts', but both times went into the corner too deep and compromised his exit which allowed Chris to retake sixth position on the run up to the bus-stop. This jostling dropped them off the back of the battle for third to fifth, but there was only three-tenths of a second between them at the finish.

So, tomorrow we will be starting the pre-final from seventh place, on the inside of row four. The finishing position from the pre-final will in turn determine each competitor's starting position for the final on Sunday afternoon.