Ojeda Battles Bathurst 1000 to Secure 12th-Place Finish

Jayden Ojeda and PremiAir Racing have finished 12th in the Repco Bathurst 1000 after a challenging race at Mount Panorama Circuit, recovering from tyre issues and late-race setbacks to secure a finish inside the top 12.

The #31 Chevrolet Camaro showed strong pace throughout practice, with Ojeda recording a best result of P2 on Thursday before further competitive runs across Friday and Saturday. Ojeda qualified eighth on Friday, earning him a spot in Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout where he secured seventh - a third-row start for Sunday’s endurance classic.

“It wasn’t the lap I had dreamed of but awesome to have the mountain to myself, super stoked. I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the race tomorrow.” said Ojeda.

Co-driver David Russell started the race from seventh and kept the #31 inside the top 10 through the opening stint. The team navigated its early driver changes and fuel strategy before contact from Matt Payne at Turn 1 left Ojeda with two flat-spotted tyres, forcing an unscheduled pit stop.

Russell returned to the cockpit as the crew replaced the damaged tyres and added fuel, before completing a double stint that included an anti-roll bar adjustment. The team continued to make strategic changes throughout the race, including a brake change and rear ride-height adjustment, as it worked to keep the car competitive.

The final adjustment dropped the #31 to 19th, but Ojeda began recovering positions in the closing stages. A late Safety Car set up a three-lap sprint to the finish, with Ojeda climbing to 12th by the chequered flag.

“Today wasn’t the race we had hoped for. A delaminated with only one stint to go really hurt us, but you live and you learn.” said Ojeda.

PremiAir Racing Team Principal Roland Dane acknowledged the result fell short of the team’s expectations following its qualifying performance.

“We were certainly aiming for the top six or thereabouts, but things didn’t fall our way,” said Dane.

Russell highlighted the importance of managing tyre performance across his stints.

“In today’s conditions, you could see the lap times drop away for some of the guys who pushed hard early, so I concentrated on maintaining a consistent target time across both stints,” said Russell.

Despite the race-day setbacks, Ojeda and Russell demonstrated competitive pace across the weekend. Ojeda thanked his co-driver, “D.Russ” for their consistent campaign together in the #31.

“Massive thanks to David Russell for an awesome couple of events throughout the enduro season.” said Ojeda.

Sunday’s result meant Ojeda was unable to secure the podium finish required to qualify for the Supercars finals series, bringing his championship campaign to a close as PremiAir Racing looks ahead to the remaining rounds of the season.