PremiAir Racing enjoyed one of its strongest qualifying performances of the season at Symmons Plains Raceway on Sunday, with Jayden Ojeda delivering a career-best Supercars qualifying result before converting it into his best finish in the category.
The day began with Race 16 qualifying, where both PremiAir Racing Camaros showed promising pace from the outset around the tight and fast Tasmanian circuit.
Ojeda comfortably progressed through Part 1 of qualifying before delivering a standout performance in Part 2. A 50.788-second lap secured P4 and a place in the Top 10 Shootout, marking a breakthrough session for both driver and team.
In the Shootout, Ojeda produced another composed lap under pressure to secure P3 on the grid, earning the best qualifying result of his Supercars career. It also marked a personal best qualifying result for race engineer Gilly.
Teammate Declan Fraser narrowly missed progressing into Part 2 of qualifying and lined up Race 16 from P22.
Sunday afternoon’s 200km encounter featured 84 laps and three compulsory pit stops, providing plenty of strategy challenges throughout the field.
Ojeda maintained strong pace throughout the race and remained in the fight at the front across the afternoon. Consistent speed, clean pit stops and smart strategy saw the #31 Camaro remain inside the leading pack before ultimately taking the chequered flag in P6 — the best race finish of Ojeda’s Supercars career.
Fraser fought hard throughout the race after starting deep in the field, continuing to gain valuable experience in the fiercely competitive Supercars championship.
The strong result caps off an encouraging weekend for PremiAir Racing in Tasmania and provides further momentum heading into the next round of the Supercars Championship.
Qualifying Results – Race 16
Race 16 Results
Peter Xiberras – Team Owner, PremiAir Racing
“I’m incredibly proud of what the whole PremiAir Racing team achieved this weekend in Tasmania. To see Jayden secure his best qualifying result and best race finish in Supercars shows the hard work everyone has been putting in behind the scenes.
“The pit stops, strategy and execution across the weekend were outstanding, and it was great to see both cars showing really strong race pace. Declan also did a fantastic job fighting through the field and continuing to build momentum.
“We know there’s still more to come from this team, but weekends like this are a great reward for everyone’s effort and commitment. We’ll take a lot of confidence out of Tasmania heading into Darwin.”
Jayden “Juice” Ojeda – #31 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“I might have to get a few tips from Pete on how to launch a big horsepower car, because honestly the starts were what let me down this weekend, which is disappointing. We did the hard work in qualifying to put ourselves in a good position, but by the end of the opening lap we’d fallen outside the top ten, and that made things pretty tough from there.
“Massive credit to Gilly and the whole team though. The pit stops were super fast, the strategy was really sharp, and they gave me clean air to make the most of the pace we had in the car. Once we got into a rhythm, the car was seriously quick and we were able to fight our way back through to P6.
“To come away with my best Supercars result yet is pretty special, and I’m really stoked with the momentum and progress we’ve made across the weekend. There’s still plenty to work on, but it definitely feels like we’re heading in the right direction and I’m excited to get back out there next round.”
Declan “Decca” Fraser – #777 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“Sunday in Tasmania is all wrapped up for us. We came through the field to finish P17 in the end, and once again the race pace in the car was really strong. In the final part of the stint, I think we were running second or third quickest on track, so that’s definitely encouraging.
“We know we’ve got a fast race car underneath us now. The main focus is figuring out qualifying and making sure we’re starting further up the field, because at the moment we’re making life pretty tough for ourselves on Sundays. I need to do a better job there personally, and as a team we’re digging into everything to understand where we can improve both inside and outside the car.
“Massive thanks to everyone for the support over the weekend. We’ve got a couple of weeks now before Darwin, so it’ll be a bit of a change going from freezing cold Tasmania to the heat up there, but I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be great to see all the fans again and hopefully keep building on the progress we’ve made.”
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