Jayden “Juice” Ojeda and race engineer Andrew “Gilly” Gilliam are quietly building one of the most exciting driver/engineer partnerships in the Supercars paddock, and the PremiAir Racing duo are only just getting started.
The pair got a head start on their partnership late last year, and the connection has grown steadily since. Their working relationship extends beyond the racetrack, encompassing GT World Challenge Australia and even the sim-racing arena, where Gilliam is a formidable talent in his own right.
“I love working with Gilly,” Ojeda said. “He’s a great guy, and we get along really well. Obviously, he is a well-credentialed sim driver himself, so it’s good to share that relationship; he understands it as a driver, which is awesome, and he is also one of the smartest people I’ve met. So to have that power in your corner is awesome.”
That crossover between the real and virtual worlds creates an interesting dynamic. When they’re not working through data and set-up changes at the track, they’re competing against each other on iRacing with Gilliam holding the upper hand there.
“I’m probably more experienced on another platform, but when it comes to iRacing, he is incredibly good. He smokes me on iRacing each time,” Ojeda laughed.
It’s not just the #31 combination that benefits from an engineer who knows what it feels like in the seat. On the #777 side of the garage, Declan Fraser counts Gold Star winner Simon Hodge as his race engineer, another partnership built on shared understanding.
“If I say something, he knows what it feels like in the seat,” Fraser said of Hodge. “He’s no slouch of a driver himself, and I think it helps both in the car and out of the car. I think it’s the best of both worlds really.”
Heading into the NTI Townsville 500, Ojeda sits 13th in the championship standings, the highest-ranked rookie in the field. As the partnership with Gilliam deepens, the sky is the limit for what the pair can achieve together.
Fuelled by Ambition.
Source: V8 Sleuth — The added layer to a blossoming driver/engineer combo