O’Keefe’s Renault on top in TCR Australia test day

Dylan O’Keeffe has ended on top after the official test of the 2021 TCR Australia Series at Phillip Island. O’Keeffe and his Renault Mégane finished the day marginally ahead of the Peugeot 308 of Ben Bargwanna, with both drivers using fresh tyres in their final run to set their times. Another Peugeot, Aaron Cameron’s was third, two tenths of a second off O’Keeffe’s pace.

“It’s extremely positive,” said O’Keeffe. “I honestly didn’t expect that compared to how we were travelling throughout the day, but I think it’s a big tyre game here and we know throughout the day some people put on some good tyres and so did we at the end, there’s no denying that. I think the car did a reasonably good job, I wouldn’t expect Phillip Island to be one of our stronger tracks and it was. So yeah, I’m pretty happy with that.”

O’Keeffe’s teammate James Moffat was fourth, ahead of Jordan Cox (Alfa Romeo), Jason Bargwanna (Peugeot), Nathan Morcom (Hyundai), John Martin (Honda), Chaz Mostert (Audi) and Tony D’Alberto (Honda).
Martin’s Honda experienced some tyre issues during his running, causing a scary off-track moment at the final corner. 

TCR Australia test day
1. Dylan O’Keeffe (Renault Mégane), 1:37.0567 
2. Ben Bargwanna (Peugeot 308), 0.0102
3. Aaron Cameron (Peugeot 308), 0.2000
4. James Moffat (Renault Mégane), 0.3901
5. Jordan Cox (Alfa Romeo Giulietta), 0.4005
6. Jason Bargwanna (Peugeot 308), 0.4037
7. Nathan Morcom (Hyundai i30 N), 0.4529
8. John Martin (Honda Civic Type R), 0.5350
9. Chaz Mostert (Audi RS 3 LMS), 0.6853
10. Tony D’Alberto (Honda Civic Type R), 0.8989
11. Chelsea Angelo (Volkswagen Golf GTI), 1.3813
12. Michael Caruso (Alfa Romeo Giulietta), 1.7252
13. Zac Souter (Honda Civic Type R), 1.8001
14. Michael Clemente (Honda Civic Type R) 2.5706

Picture: TCR Australia