For the first time in his career, Dylan O’Keeffe will tackle two different categories at the same race meeting next week, competing in both the final round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series and the Repco Bathurst 1000.
In the early stages of the week, O’Keeffe will drive the Schaeffler Australia Renault Megane R.S. TCR car in a trio of races, before joining Garry Jacobson in the PremiAir Hire Holden ZB Commodore for 1000km endurance marathon on Sunday.
O’Keeffe is currently 15th in the TCR standings, but his position in the standings does not reflect the pace he has shown for much of the season; in the last round at Sydney Motorsport Park, he qualified on pole.
This year will be O’Keeffe’s second Bathurst 1000 start, following an impressive 11th-place finish in 2020 as a rookie in Australia’s Great Race. Teaming up with Team Sydney has this far proved a positive choice with O’Keeffe gelling well with the team and enjoying an encouraging practice session in the car at Sydney Motorsport Park.
“I’m really excited for the opportunity this week to run in two different categories, it’s something new for me,” said O’Keeffe.
“It will be a long week but fortunately most of the sessions are spread out quite nicely which will limit the stress.
“I’m quietly confident about the TCR round. We’ve made a few improvements over the break and had some positive test days. We actually had quite decent pace at Bathurst during the Easter round so that bodes well.
“The testing in the Supercar has also been valuable and I’m feeling comfortable in the PremiAir Hire Commodore. I’m getting along with everyone at Team Sydney and I work well with Garry so I think we’re all just eager to get into it in practice 1.”
“I’ll be putting in 110% to TCR, but the whole week will be a big build up to the big race. So if we can start well in the Renault, I’d hope we could carry that form across to the Holden,” O’Keeffe concluded.
Supercheap Auto TCR Australia will be on track across November 30-December 4 while Supercars will first hit the track on Thursday 2nd December ahead of the Repco Bathurst 1000 on December 5.
TCR Weekend Schedule:
Tuesday, November 30
10:40am – Practice 1 (30 mins)
3:10pm – Practice 2 (30 mins)
Wednesday, December 1
9:30am – Qualifying (35 mins, 2 parts)
4:25pm – Race (21 laps)
Thursday, December 2
Not on Track
Friday, December 3
12:30pm – Race 2 (21 laps)
Saturday, December 4
2:00pm – Race 3 (21 laps)
Supercars Weekend Schedule:
Thursday, December 4
10:00am – Practice 1 (1 hour, all drivers)
4:25pm – Practice 2 (1 hour, co-drivers)
Friday, December 3
10:40am – Practice 3 (1 hour, co-drivers)
1:30pm – Practice 4 (1 hour, all drivers)
4:35pm – Qualifying (40 mins)
Saturday, December 4
10:15am – Practice 5 (1 hour, co-drivers)
12:15pm – Practice 6 (1 hour, all drivers)
5:05pm – Top Ten Shootout (45mins)
Sunday, December 5
9:10am – Warm Up (20 mins)
12:15pm – Bathurst 1000 (161 laps)
