Jayden Ojeda has delivered his best solo Supercars Championship result to date, fighting from outside the top ten to finish sixth in the feature race at Symmons Plains, a result that underlines the momentum building at PremiAir Racing.
After cracking the top 10 in Saturday’s opening race, Ojeda stepped it up on Sunday, improving on his provisional fourth fastest qualifying time to record the third best effort in the Top 10 Shootout.
A slow getaway and contact at Turn 3 dropped him to 10th on the opening lap, but from there Ojeda produced a determined charge through the field, ultimately taking the chequered flag in sixth position, one place better than his result at Albert Park and equal to the best finish of his career alongside Ryan Wood at The Bend 500 last year.
Crucially, it marks the best start and finish combination from the four-strong 2026 rookie class.
The result has also boosted Ojeda’s championship standing significantly. After sliding to 22nd following Albert Park, the subsequent 10 races have seen him climb to 14th overall, the top-ranked first-year contender in the championship.
“I’m going to talk to the boss, Pete Xiberras, about borrowing his light tree from the drags and just get out there and do some starts!” Ojeda joked.
“Obviously, I’m coming from GTs where it’s rolling starts, and that’s all I’ve done for a few years. I got used to the clutch with the downshifts in the offseason, which is nice, but now it’s about figuring out the standing starts.”
Despite the early-race setback, Ojeda was full of praise for the team’s efforts in getting him back into contention.
“Massive credit to Gilly (Engineer Andrew Gilliam) and the whole team. 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.”
The Repco Supercars Championship continues at Hidden Valley Raceway from June 19–21.
Source: V8 Sleuth