Dylan O’Keeffe set the pace in TCR Australia Practice 2 after a last gasp lap displaced pacesetter Garth Tander at Phillip Island.
The Alfa Romeo driver fired in a 1:36.63s effort in the dying moments of the 30 minute session which was truncated after Practice 1 fast man Garth Tander caused a brief red flag period.
O’Keeffe was lying in second at the time of the stoppage just 0.14s behind Tander, who had dominated the early running.
Tander, making his TCR debut, occupied the top spot early on with a 1:37.19s before going on to improve by a tenth of a second.
The Supercars veteran, driving a brand new Audi RS3, was unable to better his time after his car appeared to lose drive before stopping on circuit, causing a red flag period with eight minutes remaining.
Meanwhile, Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner (Subaru) ran strongly throughout the session, running as high as second before settling for third, 0.8s shy of O’Keeffe.
Super speedy internet with award-winning innovation. Get some.
John Martin was fourth fastest in the Wall Racing Honda ahead of TCR Australia debutant Hamish Ribarits in the #22 Melbourne Performance Centre Audi.
Having struggled for pace in Practice 1, Chris Pither (Garry Rogers Motorsport, Renault) showed significant improvement to secure the sixth fastest time, while Tony D’Alberto (Wall Racing, Honda) was seventh.
Series leader Will Brown (HMO Customer Racing Australia, Hyundai) was another driver to show much stronger pace compared to the earlier session, in eighth.
The top 10 was completed by Aaron Cameron (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi) and Nathan Morcom in the second HMO Customer Racing Hyundai.
Jason Bright (Alliance Autosport, Volkswagen) could only manage 12th while Leanne Tander was 14th fastest and the quickest of the four female drivers.
The TCR Australia field will return to the track on Saturday for qualifying at 1130 AEST with Race 1 at 1415.
Results: TCR Australia Phillip Island Practice 2
| Pos | Car | Competitor/Team | Driver | Vehicle | Fastest lap | Gap |
| 1 | 9 | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Dylan O’Keeffe | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 14 1:36.6334 | |
| 2 | 4 | Melbourne Performance Centre | Garth Tander | Audi RS 3 | 5 1:36.9980 | 0:00.3646 |
| 3 | 777 | Kelly Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Subaru WRX STi | 6 1:37.5078 | 0:00.8744 |
| 4 | 24 | Wall Racing | John Martin | Honda Civic Type R | 7 1:37.6004 | 0:00.9670 |
| 5 | 22 | Melbourne Performance Centre | Hamish Ribartis | Audi RS 3 | 9 1:37.8040 | 0:01.1706 |
| 6 | 33 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Chris Pither | Renault Megane RS | 5 1:38.2186 | 0:01.5852 |
| 7 | 50 | Wall Racing | Tony D’Alberto | Honda Civic Type R | 3 1:38.2536 | 0:01.6202 |
| 8 | 30 | HMO Customer Racing | William Brown | Hyundai i30N | 4 1:38.3596 | 0:01.7262 |
| 9 | 2 | Melbourne Performance Centre | Aaron Cameron | Volkswagen Golf GTI | 12 1:38.3794 | 0:01.7460 |
| 10 | 11 | HMO Customer Racing | Nathan Morcom | Hyundai i30N | 4 1:38.4394 | 0:01.8060 |
| 11 | 7 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Jimmy Vernon | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 7 1:38.5259 | 0:01.8925 |
| 12 | 8 | Taskforce / Alliance Autosport | Jason Bright | Volkswagon Golf GTI | 7 1:38.6258 | 0:01.9924 |
| 13 | 34 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | James Moffat | Renault Megane RS | 6 1:38.8240 | 0:02.1906 |
| 14 | 3 | Melbourne Performance Centre | Leanne Tander | Audi RS 3 | 6 1:39.2142 | 0:02.5808 |
| 15 | 62 | Kelly Racing | Alex Rullo | Holden Astra | 4 1:39.3250 | 0:02.6916 |
| 16 | 6 | Kelly Racing | Molly Taylor | Subaru WRX STi | 8 1:41.8469 | 0:05.2135 |
| 17 | 35 | Alliance Autosport | Alexandra Whitley | Volkswagon Golf GTI | 8 1:43.3913 | 0:06.7579 |
| 18 | 37 | Kelly Racing | Chelsea Angelo | Holden Astra | 9 1:43.8593 | 0:07.2259 |
Discussion about this post