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Dylan O’Keeffe scores victory for Alfa in Race 2
Dylan O’Keeffe has taken his Alfa to its third victory of the 2019 carsales TCR Australia Series at Queensland Raceway today, winning Race 2.
After Frenchman JK Vernay withdrew due to illness, the door was opened for O’Keefe and he had zero trouble as he romped to victory in the second of three contests at Queensland Raceway.
O’Keefe won by 7.7 seconds in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta, as Russell Ingall improved from third on Saturday to the runner-up spot with his Audi RS3, passing Tony D’Alberto’s Honda Civic Type R after a mid-race stoush.
There were plenty of battles but not much passing as 17 cars raced through 21 laps, with even championship leader Will Brown unable to advance past 10th in his Hyundai i30N.
O’Keefe was smiling but not cocky after his win, even though he was never remotely threatened.
“It was easy for the first 10 laps. Then I just tried to hold a steady pace,” O’Keefe said.
“But the job’s not done. That’s just the first half.”
Ingall admitted he had gone the wrong way on car set-up after taking third on Saturday afternoon, and is frantically re-setting his car for the third contest.
“We’ve gone to far the wrong way. We have to change it back,” he said.
Aaron Cameron did well for third in his Volkswagen Golf and he intends to challenge O’Keefe in the decider.
“The thing is fast,” he says.
Aaron Seton, who jumped into Vernay’s Audi at the last minute, took his time adjusting to TCR cars and competition but still managed 14th place after a torrrid battle with Chris Pither’s Renault Megane.
“I’m building up to it. They’re good fun,” Seton said.
Results, Race 2
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Car | Lap | Time |
| 1 | 9 | Dylan O’Keeffe (Vic) | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 21 | 26:36.9228 |
| 2 | 100 | Russell Ingall (Qld) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 21 | 26:37.6963 |
| 3 | 2 | Aaron Cameron (Vic) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Volkswagen Golf GTI | 21 | 26:38.4032 |
| 4 | 50 | Tony D’Alberto (Vic) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 21 | 26:44.4045 |
| 5 | 7 | Jordan Cox (NSW) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 21 | 26:45.1116 |
| 6 | 11 | Nathan Morcom (NSW) | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30N | 21 | 26:45.3064 |
| 7 | 24 | John Martin (NSW) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 21 | 26:47.4694 |
| 8 | 34 | James Moffat (Vic) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Renault Megane RS | 21 | 26:47.8013 |
| 9 | 3 | Leanne Tander (Vic) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 21 | 26:48.3643 |
| 10 | 30 | William Brown (Qld) | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30N | 21 | 26:48.7231 |
| 11 | 62 | Alex Rullo (WA) | Kelly Racing | Holden Astra | 21 | 26:52.3533 |
| 12 | 38 | Jordan Michels (NZ) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 21 | 26:52.9137 |
| 13 | 8 | Jason Bright (Vic) | Taskforce / Alliance Autosport | Volkswagon Golf GTI | 21 | 26:53.3584 |
| 14 | 4 | Aaron Seton (Qld) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 21 | 27:18.9806 |
| 15 | 6 | Molly Taylor (NSW) | Kelly Racing | Subaru WRX STi | 21 | 27:28.1816 |
| 16 | 33 | Chris Pither (NZ) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Renault Megane RS | 20 | 26:57.2567 |
| DNF | 35 | Alexandra Whitley (Qld) | Alliance Autosport | Volkswagon Golf GTI | 20 | 25:49.5946 |