Townsville 1_web

Dylan o’keeffe

Productive Sandown Test Gives O’Keeffe Confidence for The Bend

A productive test day in variable weather conditions at Sandown last week has buoyed Dexion/RAM Motorsport Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup driver Dylan O’Keeffe’s enthusiasm ahead of this weekend’s fifth round of the championship at the OTR Bend SuperSprint.

O’Keeffe currently sits third in the standings after achieving podium finishes in two of the four rounds, and was unlucky not to continue his top three streak in the previous round at Townsville, following a controversial penalty in the weekend’s opening race.

While the Sandown circuit is very different in character to The Bend, O’Keeffe said he and his GWR Australia team still gathered valuable information.

“One of the best things about the Sandown test was that the conditions changed throughout the day, so we were able to accumulate both wet and dry running,” O’Keeffe said.

“You can’t normally schedule wet weather testing, so the fact we were able to turn some laps on a wet track and learn how these new Type 992 GT3 Cup cars behave in those conditions will certainly be an advantage if it rains for any rounds this year.

“Sandown is a different track to The Bend – it’s a mixture of slow corners leading onto long straights, where The Bend is much more flowing, but we were able to experiment with some setup changes that you wouldn’t normally have time to try on a race weekend.

“We already tested at The Bend earlier in the season, so we’ll be heading there armed with plenty of knowledge, which should serve us well.”

This weekend’s round will consist of the typical three race format, with Race 2 to be run over a longer, 20-lap distance in which tyre degradation will be a factor.

Each race will be shown live on FOX Sports 506.

Carrera Cup Round 5 Schedule
Friday, 29 July

10:50am – Practice 1 (25 min)

1:25pm – Practice 2 (25 min)

 

Saturday, 30 July

10:30am – Qualifying (20 min)

3:05pm – Race 1 (11 laps)

 

Sunday, 31 July

10:20am – Race 2 (20 laps)

2:25pm – Race 3 (11 laps)

Share this post

12hr Audi_web

O’Keeffe Set for GT Return at Phillip Island

Dylan O’Keeffe will return to the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS at Phillip Island this weekend, sharing the My Land Partners Audi …

Read More →
mh1_3617_web

Strong Recovery for O’Keeffe in AGP Carrera Cup Final

A fighting recovery drive in Race 3, Round 1 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship at the Australian Grand Prix has enabled …

Read More →
2023 Carrera Cup Australia Championship, Test Day, The Bend Motorsport Park.
Tuesday 14th March 2023.
World Copyright: Daniel Kalisz Photographer

O’Keeffe Confident in Pre-Season Carrera Cup Preparation

Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup racer Dylan O’Keeffe is confident the pre-season preparation from his GWR Australia team will allow him to kick off his …

Read More →