Jayden Ojeda feels he is closing gap to Supercars’ elite
PremiAir Racing rookie has finished last four events 11th or better overall
Ojeda currently 12th, 137 points behind 10th placed Jack Le Brocq
PremiAir Racing rookie Jayden Ojeda feels he is taking baby steps towards closing the gap to Supercars’ top performers, amid a standout campaign.
The Sydney-born driver has slashed the deficit to the top 10 to keep his Finals alive with two sprint and two enduro rounds remaining before the cut.
Ojeda, who was thrown into the deep end in place of Richie Stanaway for the last two rounds of 2025, has formed a strong bond with engineer Andrew Gilliam to put his name in the ring for the Finals.
Heading to Perth, the likes of Ryan Wood (eighth), reigning champion Chaz Mostert (ninth), Jack Le Brocq (10th) and James Golding (11th) loom as Ojeda’s challengers for a Finals spot.
When asked by Supercars.com he feels he is closing the gap to the top performers, Ojeda replied: “Yeah, a little bit. Each day is its own challenge, so it's always hard to say.
“Like, one day you can obviously be right inside the 10, and the next day you're sort of struggling.
"But I feel like, on average, our bad days seem to be around 13th, which is positive, and our good days are running inside the top eight.
“It's no secret that we want to get a spot in the top 10, but we need to get some stronger results than just breaking into the top 10 to completely lock that optimism in.
“First things first, it's just about having a few solid rounds, and then obviously we've got the enduros as well, so plenty of points still to come into play.”
Sinclair continued: "The driver he's chasing is Jack Le Brocq, and while Ojeda has overtaken more cars than anyone this season (80) and is ranked third for attacking ability, Le Brocq is the one driver he struggles to pass — just one successful overtake from five attempts so far."
Ojeda is adamant his #31 crew is “building some good momentum,” but suggested a recent rookie day for Declan Fraser and the #777 crew could help PremiAir as a whole.
"I think we learned some things from Declan's rookie day just after Townsville, which was super positive,” Ojeda explained.
“There's always a bit of risk in putting new items into the car, but I think we're pretty confident in what we learned at that test day, and we'll roll out with that in Perth.
“We need to adapt to what the circuit presents and challenges us with throughout that day.”
The weekend’s traditional Super 440 format could also help Ojeda’s cause, following two rounds of limited practice and Friday racing in Darwin and Townsville.
"It's nice to have the Friday practice and at least get to sleep on it for once. It feels like we've had a Friday race forever now,” Ojeda continued.
"It'll be nice to sit down and sift through some data on Friday night and go into Saturday with some clear direction and go straight into quali, as opposed to just feeling like you've gotta spin the bottle and let it land where it lands before you go into the session.
"And for sure as a rookie as well, having the opportunity to sleep on it before qualifying is a good thing.”
Track action commences in Perth on Friday.
