Dylan O’Keeffe has enjoyed his best Supercheap Auto TCR Australia weekend of 2024, chalking up a trio of podiums and finishing second overall in the penultimate round of the series at Sydney Motorsport Park.
After topping both Friday practice sessions – one in the wet and one in the dry – O’Keeffe qualified third and finished third in Race 1; after dropping to fourth at the start, he was able to fight back into the top three and was pressuring the leaders in the closing stages.
“The Lynk & Co was right in the setup window as soon as the Ashley Seward Motorsport boys rolled it out of the truck, so I knew we were on for some strong results,” O’Keeffe said.
“In Race 1, we had terrific race pace and were fighting for the lead in the last couple of laps.”
Relegated to eighth on the grid thanks to Race 2’s top-10 inversion, O’Keeffe dodged some chaos in the early laps, before the Safety Car was deployed due to a two-car collision.
At the restart, O’Keeffe surged forward, overtaking his rivals one-by-one as he worked his way up to second place.
“The reverse-grid races are always hectic, so the first few laps were a case of survival but after the Safety Car, I went into attack mode,” he said.
“The car was an absolute jet in the medium-speed corners and very strong under brakes, so I was able to pull off some great passing moves.”
Starting second on the grid for the third and final race, O’Keeffe lost multiple positions when he bogged down at the start, and then survived an anxious moment when he came into contact with another competitor at Corporate Hill. But once again, the performance of his Lynk & Co proved strong over the race distance and he executed some more textbook overtakes on his way to second place.
“Once again, our race pace was terrific in the last race and had it not been for the slow start, I would have been fighting for the win,” he said.
After his difficult run at Bathurst, O’Keeffe said his excellent TCR results were a big confidence booster.
“Those results were just what I needed to invigorate myself after the rough Bathurst weekend, but it’s also a great outcome for Ash and the ASM crew,” he said.
“We’ve known all year that the Lynk & Co has had potential, but we unlocked its performance this weekend, and we can head to the final round at Bathurst knowing its capabilities are as good as any car in the field.”
The final TCR round will be held at the Bathurst International, 8-10 November, while O’Keeffe will be back in action next weekend for the penultimate Carrera Cup round on the Gold Coast.
TCR Round Results Summary
Qualifying: 3rd
Race 1: 3rd
Race 2: 2nd
Race 3: 2nd
Overall: 2nd
TCR Australia – Top 10 Points
- Josh Buchan – 640
- Zac Soutar – 604
- Brad Harris – 579
- Ben Bargwanna – 555
- Jordan Cox – 548
- Ryan Casha – 546
- Dylan O’Keeffe – 529
- Tony D’Alberto – 490
- Aaron Cameron – 475
- Tom Oliphant– 418
