O’Keeffe Salvages Valuable Points in Darwin Heat

Dylan O’Keeffe has salvaged a fourth-place finish in Race 2, Round 2 of the Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia Championship after a challenging weekend at Darwin’s Hidden Valley circuit.

The weekend started on a promising note with O’Keeffe recording the third-fastest time in Friday practice aboard his Dexion Porsche GT3 Cup car.

However, in qualifying, O’Keeffe was unable to replicate his one-lap speed, ending up ninth and fifth on the grid for the two races.

A brilliant start in Race 1 saw O’Keeffe making up four positions on the opening lap, but Darwin’s hot weather conditions took their toll on his tyres during the race and he faded towards the end, finishing 10^th.

Some overnight improvements to the car setup by the RAM Motorsport/GWR Australia team provided O’Keeffe with a more consistent package for Sunday’s 45-minute race and he improved a position to finish fourth.

While he may not have repeated last year’s clean sweep of wins at Hidden Valley, O’Keeffe nevertheless banked some solid points to maintain his top-three position in the standings.

“The results this weekend certainly weren’t what we were aiming for; we didn’t nail the setup on Saturday and really battled,” he said.

“Sunday’s race was much better, but we still need to unlock some speed to get us back to the front of the field.

“We’ll do some testing and find some more improvements before the next round,” O’Keeffe concluded.

The next Carrera Cup round takes place at Queensland Raceway, 21-23 August.

Porsche Carrera Cup Round 2 Results Summary

Race 1 qualifying: 9^th

Race 2 qualifying: 5^th

Race 1: 10^th

Race 2: 4^th

Overall: 6^th

Porsche Carrera Cup Championship Points

1. Harri Jones – 297
2. Clay Osborne – 295
3. Dylan O’Keeffe – 232
4. Aaron Love – 201
5. Glen Wood – 191
6. Angelo Mouzouris – 156
7. Lachlan Bloxsom – 152
8. David Russell – 151
9. Jake Santalucia – 145
10. Marcus Amand – 140