A productive test day at Winton on Tuesday has given Ashley Seward Motorsport Alfa Romeo TCR driver Dylan O’Keeffe confidence of securing second place in the 2019 series, which concludes at The Bend Motorsport Park this weekend.
While a tough previous round at Sandown ruled O’Keeffe out of title contention, the 21-year-old Melbourne racer has been one of the standout performers in this year’s inaugural TCR season, picking up race victories at Phillip Island and Queensland Raceway.
This weekend marks the series’ second visit to The Bend Motorsport Park; during the previous appearance in July, O’Keeffe was among the fastest drivers across the race meeting, but missed out on a podium finish due to some technical glitches.
“The Bend is a track that suits the Alfa, and we had good speed when we went there earlier in the year, especially in qualifying,” O’Keeffe said.
“We had a mechanical drama in Race 1, which put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, but our pace was strong.
“Our test at Winton yesterday went well, we made some improvements with the car which have given us a solid base setup for when we roll out for practice at The Bend on Friday.
“There’s no pressure in terms of the championship, so the goal is to enjoy the weekend, win some races and finish off the season on a high note.”
The Bend TCR round marks the second of three consecutive weekends of racing for O’Keeffe, whose season will conclude with the final Super2 round at Newcastle the following weekend.
“It’s a very busy finish to the season, but jumping between the two cars in quick succession is valuable for my development as a driver,” he said.
The TCR round commences with practice on Friday, followed by qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, and Races 2 and 3 on Sunday.
TCR Round 7 Schedule
*South Australian Time
Friday, 15 November
1:15pm – Practice 1 (30 min)
4:05pm – Practice 2 (30 min)
Saturday, 16 November
9:30am – Qualifying (30 min)
12:45pm – Race 1 (30 min)
Sunday, 17 November
11:40am – Race 2 (30 min)
12:45pm – Race 3 (30 min)
Where to Watch
Races 1, 2 and 3 will be shown live on SBS. All sessions will be live streamed on the Shannons Nationals website and Facebook page.
