Melbourne teenager Dylan O’Keeffe is eager to become a regular front-runner in what will be an ultra-competitive 2017 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia season.

Having moved into Carrera Cup from Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia in 2016, O’Keeffe spent last year building his racing experience in the 911 GT3 Cup as well as gaining valuable track time on Carrera Cup’s unique race calendar.

O’Keeffe’s results were promising: after finishing runner-up in the 2015 GT3 Cup Challenge season, the 19-year-old placed 10th in last season’s Carrera Cup standings, finishing with 12 top-10 results from the final 15 races, along with a season-best result of fourth in Darwin.

Now, having recently claimed Class B victory at the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour, O’Keeffe is eager to capitalise on his experience to challenge Carrera Cup’s pacesetters this season.

“It’s great to enter the 2017 season with a year’s experience under my belt. Last year was a massive learning year for me and racing against the likes of Matt Campbell, Alex Davison and Steven Richards certainly allowed me to develop as a race driver,” said O’Keeffe.

“I’ve completed a season in the current generation 911 GT3 Cup car and now have experience on all the 2017 circuits except for Sepang, so hopefully I can implement what I’ve learnt from last year and gain some strong results in 2017.

“The battle at the front of the 2017 field will likely be just as competitive as it was in 2016 and I can’t wait to see how I stack up against some of the more experienced racers. Hopefully I can challenge for more top five and top three results as I improve throughout the season. I can’t wait!”

O’Keeffe enters this season with major backing from APB Group, as well as support from President Limo Australia, and his car will continue to be run by Ash Seward Motorsport throughout the 2017 Carrera Cup championship.