While a serious roll of the dice in the final race of the Supercars season-opening Sydney 500 at Sydney Motorsport Park today failed to pay off, PremiAir Racing says it has no regrets.
When rain was imminent, and a safety car was called, the team made a big strategy play on lap 32 of 52, electing to bolt on wet tyres on both of the PremiAir Racing Camaros ahead of the rest of the field.
Unfortunately for the team, the expected heavy rain instead lifted relatively quickly, forcing them back to the lane to put slicks back on under green running conditions.
“The early switch to wets was like putting it all on black at the Casino! The opportunity was there to be the lucky dogs, but it did not fall our way this time,” PremiAir Racing Team Owner, Peter Xiberras, said.
“We have no regrets, though. We backed ourselves. And if that rain had arrived and hung around for a bit like we all thought it would, we would have been in the box seat, but that’s racing!”
The day had started with Declan Fraser in the #777 PremiAir Racing Camaro making it through to the second part of qualifying, securing a starting position of P13 for today’s third and final race of round one. Jayden Ojeda, meanwhile, put the #31 PremiAir Racing Camaro on P19, just missing out on getting through to the second portion of the qualifying test.
With plenty of speed shown in qualifying, the team was feeling strong heading into the 200km race. Both entries got off to a clean start, and by lap 10 Ojeda had moved up to P10. Fraser meanwhile had unfortunately been caught up in a bit of push and shove with other competitors over the opening laps, dropping back to P18 as a result but remaining in the fight.
On lap 12, Ojeda brought the #31 into the lane for four tyres and fuel with a clean stop, seeing him quickly back out. Meanwhile, the team elected to lengthen Fraser’s first stint, bringing him in on lap 20 for four tyres and fuel.
It was at this point that all eyes were on the sky with rain forecast to hit the track within the next thirty minutes. The team had the wets at the ready and when a safety car was called for on lap 29 when former PremiAir Racing driver Jimmy Golding lost a wheel on track, the team made the call to throw on the wets while the field was neutralised. Ojeda had been up to P8 at that point, returning in P12, while Fraser had been back up to P16, returning P18 for the race restart.
The field resumed minutes later, with PremiAir Racing on wets and hoping the rain that was beginning to fall would remain and remain heavy. When Mother Nature decided not to play ball, backing the rain off after only a brief time, it was time for the team to reset in the lane on lap 31 and charge on through the final laps.
When all was said and done, Fraser crossed the line in P19 in the #31, while Fraser brought the #777 home in P21.
“Of course, we are disappointed, as if our gamble had paid off, we really could have had something there. But it is what it is,” Xiberras said.
“Our team put in a massive effort all weekend, with big calls, clean stops, and lots of hard work. Now we will regroup and get ready for round two in Melbourne.”
QUOTEBOARD: SYDNEY 500 – SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2026
Declan Fraser – #777 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“It was pretty fun… until it wasn’t. We bet it all on black and didn’t win big, but that’s racing. Sometimes you roll the dice and it doesn’t fall your way. That’s just the gamble we took as a team.
All in all though, I’m really happy with the progress we made. Qualifying had been a weak point for us coming into the weekend, and today we nearly made the Top 10 Shootout, missing it by just over half a tenth. That’s a big step forward.
For me personally, I’m still blowing the cobwebs out and getting back into the rhythm of Supercars racing. It’s a very different game to when I was here a couple of years ago.
I’m proud of the improvement we’ve made, and we’ll keep building. Come AGP, we’ll go again.”
Jayden Ojeda – #31 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“All in all, there are plenty of positives to take out of Sunday. We took a gamble on the wet tyre and it almost worked for us, but in the end we had to switch back to slicks, which took us out of contention.
That’s racing sometimes you’ve got to take the risk and back yourself. Today it didn’t pay off, but other days it will.
Huge job from the PremiAir Racing crew. The car was super quick in the race and we were running up around the top 10 before the Safety Car when we made the call to go to the wets. The pace at the end was strong, and the pit stops were solid as well.
There’s a lot to be positive about from this weekend, especially as it’s our first full season working together in this championship. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do next round.”
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