RAM MOTORSPORT SECURES CONSECUTIVE BATHURST 6 HOUR CLASS POLES

The RAM Motorsport/GWR squad will defend their Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour Class A1 victory from pole position tomorrow, after a stunning effort from Dylan O’Keeffe to qualify first in class and 10th outright aboard the team’s Mercedes A45 AMG.

The 24-year-old, who is on double duty in TCR Australia this weekend, was pleased to complete some clear laps in the car.

“The practice sessions were difficult because the entire field was on the circuit at the same time and there were big speed differences between the faster and slower cars in the field,” O’Keeffe said.

 “Fortunately, they split qualifying into two groups and we were in the faster group, so traffic was less of an issue.”

 Michael Sheargold, who will share the car with O’Keeffe and Ollie Shannon for tomorrow’s endurance race, was pleased with the team’s build-up to the race.

 “Throughout the practice sessions, the car has been consistent and I’ve been improving my times,” Sheargold said.

 “Dylan did a sensational job in qualifying considering he only drove the car for the first time in Friday practice, and we know Ollie is fast as he put us on pole for the race last year! However qualifying is not critically important for such a long race.

 “Tomorrow will be all about reliability, consistency, traffic management and making the right strategic decisions in the heat of battle; last year, the GWR crew made some brilliant calls on strategy which set us up for a great result, so I’m confident we have all the ingredients in place.”

 A 20-minute warm-up will be held at 8:50 tomorrow morning, with the Bathurst 6 Hour commencing at 11:15am.