Dylan o’keeffe

O’Keeffe Stages Points Salvaging Mission at Grand Prix

Dexion/RAM Motorsport/GWR Australia racer Dylan O’Keeffe says he is thankful to salvage some solid points from the opening round of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup at the Australian Grand Prix after a litany of incidents threatened to derail his weekend.

The dramas started in qualifying, when O’Keeffe was twice interrupted by a red flag while on a fast lap, leaving him eighth on the grid for the first two races. With the new-for-2024 qualifying format rewarding drivers for their two fastest lap times, it was a frustrating situation but as O’Keeffe explained, it could have been worse.

“I was at least able to set a couple of banker lap times, but it could have been so much better,” O’Keeffe said.

“The second red flag was actually caused by another competitor who turned into me, and then speared off the track – there was a fair bit of damage to my car as a result.”

In the opening race, O’Keeffe gained a place to finish seventh, capitalising on some good late-race speed.

Returning to eighth on the grid for Race 2, O’Keeffe again demonstrated strong race pace and crossed the finish line in sixth, but was relegated to 10^th due to a time penalty for jumping the start.

The combined points from Races 1 and 2 put O’Keeffe seventh on the grid for Race 3, but he was lucky to even survive the first corner after copping a hefty hit from another competitor which sent him on a safari through the gravel trap. He fell to 11^th, but was able to recover to eighth at the finish.

“In that last race, I was very lucky to finish at all – it was a big hit in the first corner,” O’Keeffe said.

“The car wasn’t great after that, but thankfully I was able to make up some spots and bank some points.

“In the last two seasons, the Grand Prix round hasn’t been great for us, so this weekend it was good to at least come away with a respectable points haul and give ourselves a base to build upon for the rest of the season.”

The next Carrera Cup round will be held at New Zealand’s Taupo circuit, 19-21 April.