The British squad set the third fastest team pursuit time in history to qualify fastest for tonight's gold medal final.
The quartet of Ed Clancy, Peter Kennaugh, Andy Tennant and Geraint Thomas set a time of 3:54.485 minutes in Melbourne, two tenths of a second faster than Australia who they will meet in the final.
Australia had been almost a second up on GB's time at the two kilometre mark, but they couldn't hold the pace in the final eight laps. Their split times slowly edged closer back down to the British marks as small gaps opened in their line-up.
With one lap to go they were still up, but lost a significant chunk of time in the final 250 metres to qualify second.
Britain's time was the fastest ever in qualifying, as the two faster times, also set by British quartets, were ridden in finals with another team on the track creating circulating air.
GB will change their line-up for the final as Steven Burke comes in for Andy Tennant.
New Zealand will ride against Russia in the bronze medal final.
Follow the team pursuit final with our live text coverage or watch it on the BBC's red button. The final is scheduled to start at 7.30pm local time, 10.30am British time.
Related links
2012 world track championships coverage index
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