Rookie seasons always have their peaks and valleys, and for Jayden Ojeda, Ipswich was firmly in the latter camp.
In a weekend where Chevrolet as a whole struggled, Ojeda found himself well off the pace he has been setting in recent rounds, finishing no better than 18th across the three races at Queensland Raceway. Contact with David Reynolds on Saturday and Andre Heimgartner on Sunday, the Reynolds incident drawing a 15-second penalty, added to a difficult weekend for the 27-year-old.
It was particularly disappointing given QR is a home circuit for PremiAir Racing, and the team completed a full day of testing with the #777 car of Declan Fraser in July to prepare for the round.
“Yeah, definitely. Some higher expectations coming into the round being a local circuit for us,” Ojeda acknowledged on Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast.
“Friday was okay, not the worst. Definitely some positives to take from the day, but then just as the weekend rolled on, it seemed like nothing we’d tried in the toolbox, things that normally give us results, wasn’t working. Everything was just super numb.
“We weren’t getting the same responses and direction from the setup changes that we’d normally get, and that left us a little bit confused.”
Ojeda noted the broader picture: the challenge wasn’t unique to PremiAir, with Chevrolet teams across the grid finding the circuit tough.
“I think that’s probably pretty common across a lot of the GM cars. With the GM network we can see what everyone’s doing, and we just tried to cover as many bases as we could between our two cars.”
Despite the frustration, Ojeda was encouraged by the direction the team found late in the weekend. His Sunday result was partly obscured by the spin he made while attempting to pass Heimgartner, a moment he took responsibility for.
“I think generally we’re quite competitive and speed-wise we’re okay. Just a mistake making the pass on Andre, which happens. I just need to get better at the race craft with these cars and figure that out.
“Still a lot for me to learn, so we’ll take that away. Plenty to test on Tuesday, and try to get some answers and hopefully roll out better and have a better weekend at The Bend.”
The weekend has shifted the championship picture for Ojeda, who has slipped to 198 points behind the top-10 bubble after entering Ipswich 132 adrift. The Ryco Enduro Cup, which begins at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend from September 11–13, now looms as a critical opportunity to claw back ground, with big points available across both The Bend and Bathurst.
He’ll be joined by experienced co-driver David Russell for those events, a pairing that carries genuine Bathurst ambition.
Before returning to Supercars, Ojeda heads to the Nürburgring from August 28–30 for a GT World Challenge Europe endurance event, a chance to reset and sharpen his racecraft ahead of the crucial second half of the season.
The AirTouch 500 at The Bend Motorsport Park runs September 11–13.
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