O’Keeffe lands Audi drive for Aus GT enduro

Porsche driver Dylan O’Keeffe has landed a seat with Audi Sport Customer Racing Australia for Round 2 of the Australian Endurance Championship.

O’Keeffe will join Daniel Gaunt behind the wheel of the #124 Audi R8 LMS at Sydney Motorsport Park next weekend when the series forms part of the support bill for the Red Rooster Sydney Super Sprint.

It will mark the youngster’s first Australian GT start, having previously raced in Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge while this year competing in Porsche Carrera Cup, where he sits fourth in the championship.

A test day at Sydney Motorsport Park yesterday provided O’Keeffe with his first opportunity to acclimatise to the Audi.

“It was a really good day, and I think we got everything done that we needed to,” O’Keeffe said.

“It’s always good to do miles in a different car, especially to get thrown out of my comfort zone.

“We worked on things like braking, using the aero, that was a big thing compared to what I’ve driven in the past, especially the brake pressure.”

Co-driver Daniel Gaunt wasn’t at the test, though has driven the car in both the Australian GT Championship and Australian Endurance Championship already in 2017.

Together, they form part of a four-pronged entry from Audi, which yesterday confirmed the return of Grant Denyer who will partner Greg Taylor in the GT Motorsports entry.

The Australian Endurance Championship will have a two-day weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park, with practice and qualifying on Friday before an early 0730 start on Saturday for the 129-lap race.