Dylan O’Keeffe and GWR Australia have ended a winless drought dating back to September 2023 to take the first race in Round 3 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship in style. Marco Giltrap finished in 11th while fellow Kiwi Clay Osbourne came home in 1th.
Starting from pole, O’Keeffe spent the entire race fending off defending champion Harri Jones to claim the fifth race win of his Carrera Cup career, edging closer to the Equity-One Professional class championship lead in the process.
The race was an intense battle between the pair as they traded fastest laps at the front of the field, pulling away from the pack in their own private battle for the win – the GWR driver running mistake-free, despite the pressure, to claim the win.
O’Keeffe is yet to finish outside the top five this in seven races to date this season, while he now provisionaly sits just eight points behind Jones in the championship race.
Jones was second in another solid performance, while a strong opening lap ensured David Russell scored he and TekworkX Motorsport’s best race finish of the season in third place.
Dale Wood finished a solid fourth in his Connected Spaces / EBM entry while Bayley Hall passed Angelo Mouzouris early in the race to score another top five finish for EMA Motorsport and consolidate third position in the championship.
Mouzouris’ top six place ensured six different teams finished in the top six while Glen Wood, Jackson Walls, Lockie Bloxsom and Marcos Flack completed the top-10.
The Pro-Am battle was just as competitive as the outright fight, with polesitter Matt Slavin ceding his early lead to Matt Belford before the pair started battling for the class lead.
Slavin was able to sneak past for the lead later in the race, a late spin from Belford in the leading battle elevating Rodney Jane to second at the finish.
Earlier in qualifying, O’Keeffe scored his first TAG Heuer Pole Award since Sandown 2023 after a session-long fight with Jones that ended with the pair separated by just 0.03 seconds.
Matt Slavin, meanwhile, claimed his first Pro-Am pole position award in style by edging Rodney Jane for the top spot by a similarly tiny margin.
Sunday’s action at the betr Darwin Triple Crown will see two races complete Round 3 of the championship, including the Enduro Cup race on Sunday morning before the final sprint later in the day.
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