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O’Keeffe Fends off the Field in Tasmania to Win in Reverse Grid Race
Dylan O’Keeffe has put together a defensive masterclass to win for Ashley Seward Motorsport in the reverse grid race for the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at AWC Race Tasmania.
Starting from pole position, O’Keeffe was challenged early by a fast-starting Aaron Cameron. The Garry Rogers Motorsport driver drew alongside the Lynk & Co but was unable to complete a pass for the lead.
Will Harris, who started from second, was running in third when he locked up and dove to the grass at turn four in similar fashion to his brother in race one. Harris collected the back of Cameron, turning the Peugeot around and effectively ending both their races. The Wall Racing driver pulled off to the side of the circuit with significant front-end damage, while Cameron pitted multiple times to fix the rear of his car.
Jordan Cox inherited second after the accident, and set about chasing down O’Keeffe, but upon reaching the race leader he was passed by an energised Tom Oliphant in the HMO Customer Racing Hyundai.
Oliphant shadowed O’Keeffe around the tight confines of Symmons Plains Raceway for almost 20 laps, at the head of a train that saw the top 10 covered by just five seconds for much of the race.
Unable to find a way by, the HMO driver started to lose touch with O’Keeffe as the race drew to a close, paving the way for a return to the top step of the podium for team owner Ashley Seward and Dylan O’Keeffe.
The podium was rounded out by Cox, with Ben Bargwanna and Zac Soutar completing the top five. Brad Harris took out the TCR Challenge honours, finishing in ninth overall.
The full results are available here.
The final race of the weekend will take place at 3:15pm AEDT.