Dylan O’Keeffe will be aiming to wrap up the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Endurance Cup and secure a top three position in the overall championship when it concludes at the VAILO Adelaide 500 this weekend.
In the previous round at the Gold Coast, O’Keeffe took the lead of the Endurance Cup – the separate pointscore for the longer-distance races held at selected events. This weekend, the Endurance Cup race will be the opening race of the weekend, which will be held over 24 laps on Friday afternoon.
“The longer-distance races have definitely worked to our strengths this year – we’ve had consistent race pace and we’ve been able to stay out of trouble in those races,” O’Keeffe said.
As for the Adelaide circuit itself, it will be O’Keeffe’s first time racing at the venue in well over four years – his last appearance at the venue was in the Dunlop Super2 Series round at the start of 2019. Prior to that, he finished on the podium in the 2018 Carrera Cup round at the track.
“The Adelaide street circuit is a great track – it has a combination of technical sections but also some faster corners like Turn 8, that require serious commitment,” he said.
“Unlike some other street circuits, there are some good passing spots but there are also big consequences if you get it wrong in some places.”
To refamiliarise himself with the track, O’Keeffe and his RAM Motorsport/Dexion Victoria team mate Dean Cook recently attended the Melbourne-based Dream Simulation facility.
“The Dream Simulation setup is fantastic, because they have an authentic replica of the Adelaide circuit which is not available on many other simulators,” O’Keeffe said.
“Dean and I completed plenty of laps of the track and I think that will give us a head-start in the early stages of the weekend – it means we can use practice to optimise our car setup.”
Coming into the round, O’Keeffe sits third on the points table; while he is mathematically in contention for the title, he would need to rely on severe misfortune for Callum Hedge and Jackson Walls to have a chance of victory.
“You never wish bad luck upon your rivals and to be honest, a top three result in the final standings would be excellent considering we weren’t even in the top 10 just a few rounds ago,” O’Keeffe concluded.
Event Schedule
Thursday, 23 November
11:10am – Practice 1 (20 min)
Friday, 24 November
8:35am – Practice 2 (20 min)
11:05am – Qualifying 1 (12 min)
11:23am – Qualifying 2 (12 min)
3:55pm – Race 1 (24 laps)
Saturday, 25 November
1:20pm – Race 2 (11 laps)
Sunday, 26 November
1:15pm – Race 3 (11 laps)
