Then, on lap 4, Kautz crashed his Auto Union at Melbourne corner after his throttle jammed open, putting him out of the race.

Villoresi, who was fastest of the non-German cars in practice, had made a poor start, but was now charging, reaching fifth place by lap 18, but would retire shortly after.

[3] On lap 26, Nuvolari made a pitstop for new plugs, dropping him to fourth place, with Müller now leading Seaman and Lang.

A few laps later, Robin Hanson's Alta had an engine failure, gushing oil all over the circuit near Hairpin Bend.

[3] With the race approaching half distance, the leaders started to make their fuel stops, first with Lang, and last to pit was Nuvolari, who also changed all four wheels.