Premiair Racing has completed a productive Saturday at the Darwin Triple Crown, with both drivers advancing through qualifying and securing valuable race mileage in the 70-lap Race 18 at Hidden Valley Raceway.
The day began positively in the three-part qualifying format, with both Jayden Ojeda and Declan Fraser progressing through Qualifying Part 1. Ojeda recorded a 1:06.422 to finish 11th, while Fraser’s 1:06.463 saw him advance to 15th.
With a place in the Top 10 Shootout on the line in Qualifying Part 2, the team elected to save its tyres for a single late-session run. Fraser ultimately qualified 12th, with Ojeda 14th, narrowly missing out on the Shootout but demonstrating encouraging pace throughout the session.
Race 18 was contested over 70 laps and 200 kilometres in hot Darwin conditions, with ambient temperatures reaching 31 degrees and track temperatures climbing to 41 degrees.
Both Premiair Racing entries made strong starts, with Ojeda immediately gaining ground and the pair running closely together throughout the opening stages. By lap 10, Ojeda and Fraser were positioned 11th and 12th, respectively, as the team settled into its race strategy.
The opening pit stop sequence brought mixed fortunes. Ojeda’s first stop for fuel and four tyres was delayed when the car stalled on the drop, costing valuable seconds before he could restart and rejoin the race. Fraser’s race was later complicated by an incident at Turn 6 after Zach Bates ran wide and, while rejoining the circuit, moved under brakes and forced Fraser off the road. Despite the setback, Fraser quickly recovered and continued the race.
As the race progressed into the final pit stop cycle, the Premiair Racing crew delivered under pressure. During Fraser’s final stop, a wheel gun issue arose moments before service commenced; however, crew member Donny reacted immediately, swapping equipment to ensure no time was lost.
Ojeda continued to extract strong pace in the closing stages, climbing back into the top 10 by the chequered flag to secure another valuable top-10 finish in 10th place. Fraser produced a determined recovery drive following his earlier off-track excursion to finish 15th.
The results capped off a solid day for the team, highlighted by encouraging qualifying pace, strong pit crew execution and another top-10 result for Ojeda.
Premiair Racing will now turn its attention to Sunday’s Race 19 as the Darwin Triple Crown continues.
Jayden Ojeda – P14
Declan Fraser – P12
Race 18 Results
Jayden Ojeda – P10
Declan Fraser – P15
QUOTEBOARD: DARWIN TRIPLE CROWN – SATURDAY 20 JUNE 2026
Jayden (Juice) Ojeda
“It was a pretty hard-fought race for us today. Starting from P14, I finally got a good launch off the line, which was nice, and we settled into a solid rhythm in that first stint.
“Unfortunately, I made a mistake at the pit stop. I ran a little long into the box and then stalled the car, which cost us a chunk of time and put us on the back foot.
“The positive was that our race pace was really strong. We were able to claw back positions stint by stint and work our way back into the top 10 by the end of the race, which was a good recovery after my error.
“There are definitely some positives to take from today. The car had good speed, and now we’ll focus on tidying up the small things and come back tomorrow looking to have another crack at it.”
Declan (Decca) Fraser
“Not a bad day all in all. We qualified 12th, which is another really positive step forward for us on our side of the garage. We only missed the Top 10 by around four hundredths of a second, so that’s a massive improvement in our qualifying pace, which has been a big focus for me. I’m super stoked with that progress.
“In the race, we were running around 12th for most of the opening stint and looking pretty solid. Unfortunately, there was an incident where a car went off and rejoined, and I ended up having a spin trying to avoid it. It’s one of those things that can happen in racing.
“After that, we committed to a really long strategy and managed to work our way back through the field. The pace was strong at the end and we recovered to finish 15th, so there are definitely positives to take from it.
“The biggest thing is the confidence we can take into tomorrow. The qualifying speed is improving, and with the soft tyre in play, we’ll be pushing hard to get into the Top 10 Shootout and give ourselves a good opportunity from there.”
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