PremiAir Racing endured a challenging Saturday at Queensland Raceway, with a tightly contested pair of qualifying sessions followed by two hard-fought races for Jayden “Juice” Ojeda and Declan “Decca” Fraser.
While the results fell short of the team’s expectations, there were positives to take from the afternoon, including a strong recovery drive from Fraser in Race 27 and plenty of valuable information to carry into Sunday.
Saturday began with back-to-back qualifying sessions, with each consisting of an opening session for the full field before the top 10 progressed to the second phase.
Race 26 qualifying was contested on the Dunlop Soft tyre, with both PremiAir Racing cars needing to find time on their final runs.
Ojeda ultimately qualified 20th, just 0.6851 seconds away from Brodie Kostecki’s benchmark at the top of the timesheets, highlighting just how tight the field was. Fraser qualified 26th.
Attention quickly turned to Race 27 qualifying, this time with the Super Soft tyre in play.
The circuit was declared wet for both parts of the session with rain showing on the radar, although it ultimately did not fall on the circuit. Both PremiAir Racing cars pushed through to the chequered flag but were unable to find the improvement required, leaving Ojeda 23rd and Fraser 24th on the grid.
It was a disappointing qualifying result for the team and meant both drivers faced plenty of work in the afternoon’s races.
With a light sprinkle of rain falling in the lead-up to Race 26, tyre choice became an early talking point as teams prepared for the possibility of changing conditions.
Starting from 20th, PremiAir Racing elected to roll the dice with Ojeda rather than simply follow the same strategy as those around him.
Ojeda made an early stop on Lap 5 for two rear tyres, sending him back into clear air in an attempt to gain ground through an alternative strategy.
Fraser, meanwhile, began making progress from 26th and had climbed to 20th by Lap 9. His recovery was dealt a setback one lap later when he received a five-second time penalty for a driving infringement.
As the race developed, a variety of compulsory pit stop strategies emerged across the field, with teams changing different combinations of tyres.
Fraser extended his opening stint and was the final driver to complete his compulsory stop, coming into pit lane on Lap 26. He took four tyres and served his five-second penalty before rejoining.
Despite the team’s efforts to use strategy to move both cars forward, Race 26 ultimately produced a P18 finish for Ojeda and P23 for Fraser.
It was a result below the standards the team sets for itself, with the focus immediately turning to finding a way forward in the second race of the afternoon.
Race 27 presented a different challenge, with the field racing on the Dunlop Super Soft tyre and higher degradation expected to make tyre management and strategy important factors across the 39 laps.
From 23rd on the grid, Ojeda made an encouraging start and had climbed four positions to 19th by Lap 10, while Fraser had gained a place to run 23rd.
Ojeda’s progress was halted on Lap 11 when he made contact with David Reynolds while attempting a move underneath him. The incident resulted in a 15-second time penalty for Ojeda.
As the compulsory pit stop cycle began, Fraser remained patient before stopping on Lap 19 for four cold used tyres.
A Safety Car on Lap 24 provided Ojeda with an opportunity to complete his compulsory stop. However, with penalties unable to be served under Safety Car conditions, his 15-second penalty remained outstanding.
Following another Safety Car period later in the race, the field returned to green-flag running on Lap 34.
With five laps remaining and little to lose, the team elected to bring Ojeda into pit lane to serve his 15-second penalty rather than have it added to his race time after the chequered flag. He ultimately finished a difficult Race 27 in 24th position.
Fraser, however, produced a strong recovery in the closing stages.
Working with his engineer Simon, Fraser and the team made the most of the strategy available to them and climbed through to 16th at the chequered flag — an eight-position gain from his P24 starting position and a positive way to finish an otherwise difficult day.
During Race 27, the team also noted that Fraser’s engine was running slightly hotter than the rest of the field. As a precaution, the team will carry out an engine change overnight ahead of Sunday’s running.
The engine removed from Fraser’s car will be sent back to KRE for further inspection and checks.
Saturday at Queensland Raceway did not deliver the results PremiAir Racing came looking for, and the team makes no excuses for a day that fell below its own expectations.
However, Fraser’s recovery from 24th to 16th in Race 27 demonstrated what could be achieved by maximising the opportunities available, while the extremely tight margins in qualifying showed how small the differences are across the Supercars field.
The team now faces a busy evening, with the crew completing the precautionary engine change on Fraser’s car alongside the usual post-race preparation of both cars.
PremiAir Racing will work through the data from both qualifying sessions and races overnight before returning to Queensland Raceway on Sunday determined to finish the weekend on a stronger note.
QUOTEBOARD: IPSWICH SUPER 440 – SATURDAY 22ND AUGUST 2026
Declan Fraser – #777 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“It wasn’t the Saturday we were hoping for. Juice and I both qualified a bit further back than we would have liked, especially after the pace we showed on Friday, so that was disappointing.
In the race, though, we fought back really well. We went from 24th to 16th and had good pace coming through the field. We probably just got a little bit stuck towards the end, but overall I’m really happy with the race pace and what we found in the car through that final part of the race.
The boys are busy with an engine change now, so there’s plenty of work going on tonight. Once that’s done, we’ll go through everything, look at what we can improve and make sure we’re in the best possible position for qualifying tomorrow.
A big thanks to everyone for the support. We really appreciate it.”
Jayden Ojeda – #31 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“It was a tough day for us on the #31 side of the garage. We struggled a little through qualifying, and with the parc fermé rules carrying that setup into the first race, we were fairly limited with what we could change.
In the second race this afternoon, I made a mistake that resulted in a penalty, and from there we were a bit out of position and it was difficult to recover.
There are still some positives to take from the day. I feel like we’re starting to find a bit more speed in the car, so we’ll go through everything tonight, have a good look at where we can improve, and come back tomorrow ready for a fresh start.”
Stay in the loop with PremiAir Racing all weekend long! Get live race coverage and exclusive team updates via our WhatsApp Channel, proudly powered by Air & Allied Sales. 
Join now: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaEGGiJ2kNFlJu5eeo1H
For more information on PremiAir Racing, please visit www.premiairracing.com or follow the team on its social media platforms at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/, www.instagram.com/PremiAir_Racing/, www.linkedin.com/company/premiAirracing/