GWR Australia’s three Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia drivers are confident of a strong showing in the second round of the championship at Winton this weekend, after a successful test day last week.
Since the last Carrera Cup round, two of the three drivers – Dylan O’Keeffe and Duvashen Padayachee – have done other races, with O’Keeffe competing in the Bathurst 6 Hour and TCR Australia round, while Padayachee was in action in last weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
Padayachee said he’s looking forward to getting back into the Porsche.
“I’ve just come from Bathurst, where I’ve been racing a Mercedes with more aero and driving aids, so I’ll have to get used to the Carrera Cup car again,” he said.
“The test day last week went well – we arrived at the track with a setup that was pretty much in the window, and we just made minor changes to the car from there. All three of us ended up pretty close to each other in our lap times, so we know we’re heading to the track with a solid base setup.
“I’m more confident in the car now – at the Grand Prix, it felt like I was playing catch-up with getting my head around it, but I feel much more on top of it after the test.
O’Keeffe is expecting overtaking at the Winton circuit to be difficult and said qualifying will be critical.
“At the Grand Prix, we only qualified 17th but our race pace was much better than our qualifying speed and I was able to work my way through the field and finished fourth in the last race,” O’Keeffe said.
“It will be more difficult to make those sorts of gains during the races at Winton, because it’s a slower circuit with shorter braking zones and fewer chances to make passing moves unless someone makes a mistake.
“This weekend, the qualifying sessions are split for the Pro and Am drivers – this means there will be less traffic to deal with, which is a good thing, but the session is condensed into 10 minutes, which will only give us time for one run. Generating tyre temperature will be critical.”
While Almond encountered some dramas at the Grand Prix, he is confident of a much better showing this weekend.
The South Australian driver chalked up a DNF in the opening race of the weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, but charged his way through the field in the remaining three races and ultimately finished eighth in the final.
Practice for Carrera Cup kicks off on Friday.
Carrera Cup Round 2 Schedule
Friday, 20 May
12:00pm – Practice 1 (25 min)
2:30pm – Practice 2 (25 min)
Saturday, 21 May
10:05am – Am Driver Qualifying (10 min)
10:20am – Pro Driver Qualifying (10 min)
2:25pm – Race 1 (16 laps)
Sunday, 22 May
10:25am – Race 2 (25 laps)
2:20pm – Race 3 (16 laps)
