Kolhapur, Sep 6 (IANS): Two of the most accomplished emerging drivers, Chittesh Mandody of Mohite's Racing and Vishnu Prasad of MECO Racing, set up an intriguing battle for the pre-final and final rounds following the heats in the Senior Max category at the third round of the 11th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship here Saturday.

In daunting conditions with intermittent showers, local man Mandody won the first heat from Prasad before the latter got his own back in the second heat. Tied on points, Mandody will take first place on the grid for the pre-final round Sunday on account of having won the qualifying heat.

In the junior category, for the age group between 13-16 years, Dark Don Racing's Kush Maini bided his time before making his move in the penultimate lap to upstage BPC Racing's Ricky R. Donison and take the chequered flag to win the second heat.

Maini, who also won the first heat, will take pole position for the pre-final, followed by Donision and Mirnal Chatterjee, who finished fifth in the first heat and fourth in the second.

Yash Aradhya of Meco Racing, dominated the Micro Max category (7-12 years) as he won both the day's heats convincingly and will start on pole.

In second position will be teammate Paul Francis, second in both heats, while the overall points leader Shahan Ali Mohsin, who finished third in both heats, made it a good day for MECO Racing, whose drivers will occupy the top six spots on the grid for the pre-final.

Positions after heats:

Senior Max: Chittesh Mandody (Mohite's Racing) 1; Vishnu Prasad (MECO Racing) 2; Ameya Bafna (Rayo Racing) 3; Aryan Gandhi (Rayo Racing) 4; Nayan Chatterjee (Rayo Racing) 5.

Junior Max: Kush Maini (Dark Don Racing) 1; Ricky Donison (BPC Racing) 2; Mrinal Chatterjee (Rayo Racing) 3; Aaroh Ravindra (Rayo Racing) 4; Akash Gowda (MECO Racing) 5.

Mico Max: Yash Aradhya 1; Paul Francis 2; Shahan Ali Mohsin 3; Arjun S. Nair 4; Aditya Swaminathan 5 (all MECO Racing).