Dylan O’Keeffe says his 2024 assault on the 2024 Repco Bathurst 1000 marks his best-ever chance of a big result in the undisputed Holy Grail of Australian motorsport.
O’Keeffe has four prior starts in the Bathurst 1000, achieving his best result of 10th outright in last year’s event, but he believes for this weekend’s edition, where he will join Nick Percat in the Bendix Camaro for Matt Stone Racing, all the ingredients are in place for his best showing to date.
“It’s no secret that Nick has been in great form this year, but he’s one of those drivers who always lifts to another level at Bathurst – he won it on debut in 2011, and he’s been on the podium a couple more times since,” O’Keeffe said.
“I also really enjoy Bathurst and I’ve been fortunate enough to taste success there in the other endurance races – the 12 Hour and the 6 Hour. Now I just need a trophy in the 1000 to add to my collection!
“The Sandown 500 was a bit of a tough one for us, but we had a very positive debrief afterwards and I’m confident we learned some lessons we can apply to our Bathurst campaign.
“Matt Stone Racing is one of the smaller teams in pit lane but what they lack in size, they make up for in passion; it’s such a close-knit environment and everyone thrives on the motivation of taking the fight up to the bigger organisations.”
Like Sandown, O’Keeffe will again be on double duty on Bathurst weekend, also racing his Dexion Porsche in Round 6 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia for the RAM Motorsport/GWR operation, and is keen to continue his podium streak.
“We’ve kept improving as the year has progressed and each round we’ve made up a spot or two in the championship; hopefully we can continue that trend, and make it to first place by the end of the year,” he said.
“Sandown was a frantic weekend with lots of back-to-back sessions swapping between cars, but Bathurst is a lot more spread-out being a four-day weekend.
“I think racing the Porsche will be a help more than a hindrance, because it will give me some extra seat time to ensure I’m fully dialled into the Mountain.”
O’Keeffe’s big Bathurst weekend kicks off on Thursday, with a couple of sessions in both Supercars and Carrera Cup.
2024 Bathurst 1000 Schedule
Thursday, 10 October
9:00am – Carrera Cup practice (50 min)
1:20pm – Supercars practice 1 (60 min)
3:40pm – Carrera Cup qualifying (30 min)
4:55pm – Supercars practice 2 co-drivers (60 min)
Friday, 11 October
10:05am – Supercars practice 3 (60 min)
1:05pm – Supercars practice 4 (60 min)
2:25pm – Carrera Cup race 1 (40 min)
4:15pm – Supercars qualifying (40 min)
Saturday, 12 October
10:05am – Supercars practice 5 co-drivers (60 min)
1:10pm – Supercars practice 6 60 min)
3:25pm – Carrera Cup race 2 (25 min)
5:05pm – Supercars Top 10 Shootout (1 lap)
Sunday, 13 October
8:15am – Supercars warm-up (20 min)
9:15am – Carrera Cup race 3 (30 min)
11:30am – Supercars Bathurst 1000 (161 laps)