Super2 rookie sensation and TCR Australia race winner Dylan O’Keeffe says he can’t wait for the awe-inspiring sensation of husting a pure-bred GT3 car around the world-famous Mount Panorama circuit at this year’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
O’Keeffe was today announced as one of the drivers in the Bostik Audi R8 LMS, where he will join Tony Bates, Geoff Emery and Max Twigg in an entry that will compete in the Silver Cup class.
It will be the Melbourne driver’s fourth start in the internationally-recognised endurance race, in which he drove a Porsche Cup car to a class victory on debut in 2017.
In the last couple of seasons, O’Keeffe’s most noteworthy performances have come in the Porsche Carrera Cup, Dunlop Super2 Series and TCR Australia categories. But the 21-year-old has also shown speed in an Audi R8 GT3 car, qualifying fastest outright at the Phillip Island 101 endurance race in 2018.
“It’s been a while since I’ve driven a full-blown GT3 car, and I’m really excited to experience the breathtaking corner speeds over the top of the Mountain,” O’Keeffe said.
“There’s nothing like the feeling of heading through Reid Park and Sulman Park, with your foot flat on the accelerator, the concrete walls a couple of centimetres away, and the sensation of the aero hugging you to the road.”
While O’Keeffe has previously driven for the same team as Bates, Emery and Twigg, it will be the first time he has shared a car with any of them. He said teaming up with Bates will be particularly special.
“Tony played an important part in the very early stages of my career; he was the one who gave me my very first test in a tin-top race car – when I was fresh out of go-karts, he let me drive his Porsche Carrera Cup car,” O’Keeffe said.
“To now be driving alongside him, in one of the biggest races of the year, will be very cool and I’m most thankful to him for the opportunity.” O’Keeffe will test the Bostik Audi R8 at Phillip Island tomorrow, ahead of the Bathurst 12 Hour on 31 January-2 February.
