Tasmania Super 440 represents a significant step forward for Ojeda.
Jayden Ojeda has completed a highly encouraging weekend at the Tasmania Super 440, with strong pace across all sessions culminating in a career-best qualifying performance and best-ever race finish in the Supercars Championship.
From the outset, Ojeda demonstrated competitive speed around Symmons Plains Raceway, with the Premiair Racing #31 entry finishing third in Friday’s second practice session. The result provided an early indication of the car’s underlying pace heading into the weekend’s competitive sessions.
Saturday’s back-to-back qualifying program showcased the team’s speed in challenging and variable conditions. In the opening qualifying session the car displayed genuine top-ten potential, however a missed opportunity to switch to a fresh set of wet tyres in the closing stages resulted in a P13 finish. The second qualifying session on the Dunlop super soft again highlighted the car’s pace, before a locked front tyre during the flying lap restricted the result to tenth on the grid.
Despite the qualifying setbacks, the team converted strong race pace into a solid result in Race 14. An effective strategic approach combined with a fast and efficient pit stop enabled #31 to secure another top-ten finish and valuable championship points for the team.
Race 15 proved significantly more challenging. A difficult launch off the line immediately compromised track position before a spin on lap 14 dropped the car further down the order. Nevertheless, the pace of the Premiair Racing entry remained highly competitive throughout, allowing a recovery drive from 23rd position back to 14th by the chequered flag. The performance was further underlined by setting the fastest lap of the race.
Sunday marked a major milestone for both Ojeda and the Nulon-backed team. Delivering consistently competitive laps through the opening stages of qualifying allowed the team to advance into the Top Ten Shootout and ultimately secured third position; Ojeda's best qualifying result of his Supercars career to date.
The strong qualifying performance laid the foundation for an equally impressive result in Race 16. Although another challenging start saw positions lost on the opening lap, the team executed an outstanding race strategy to place the car in clean air and maximise its race pace advantage. Combined with strong tyre management and competitive long-run speed, the recovery drive resulted in a sixth-place finish; the best race result achieved by Jayden Ojeda in the Supercars Championship.
The Tasmania Super 440 represented a significant step forward for Premiair Racing, with the weekend highlighting the team’s growing competitiveness across qualifying and race conditions alike. Multiple top-ten finishes, fastest lap honours, a career-best qualifying result and a career-best race finish for car #31 provided a strong reward for the collective efforts of the entire team throughout the event.