Dylan O’Keeffe says he’s proud of his Ashley Seward Motorsport team for their efforts in the inaugural TCR Australia Series, after taking his second pole position of the season in the seventh and final round at The Bend on the weekend.
While the races did not go according to plan due to some technical glitches with the Alfa Romeo Guilietta, O’Keeffe said everyone in the team could hold their heads high after gallantly fighting all the way to the finish.
“We’ve arrived at just about every circuit with a package capable of fighting for podium finishes, if not race wins,” O’Keeffe said.
“Considering he only took possession of the Alfa just before the first round, Ash and his team did a brilliant job of engineering a base setup that ensured we were competitive as soon as we hit the track for the first round.
“There were some tracks that suited us better than others, but we were always capable of racing somewhere in the lead pack.
“The car was really fast in practice and qualifying this weekend, so it’s such a shame our races were plagued with mechanical problems – we had a power steering issue in Race 1, and then a driveshaft failed in Race 2.”
The nil points haul from the weekend’s three races saw O’Keeffe finishing the TCR series fifth overall, a result that did not accurately reflect his form across the balance of the season where he was generally among the fastest in the field, taking two pole positions and four race wins.
The 21-year-old’s focus now turns to this weekend’s Dunlop Super2 Series finale at Newcastle.
“The good news is I still have one more weekend of racing left, so it will be a good chance to finish the season on a high note,” he said.
Round Results Summary
Qualifying: 1st
Race 1: DNS
Race 2: DNF
Race 3: DNS
Overall: 19th
Top 10 Points – After Round 7
1. Will Brown – 733
2. Tony D’Alberto – 557
3. Aaron Cameron – 546
4. Nathan Morcom – 500
5. Dylan O’Keeffe – 483
6. James Moffat – 440
7. Jason Bright – 412
8. John Martin – 390
9. Russell Ingall – 326
10. Garth Tander – 286
