Dane: Fraser car 'not in the right postcode'

A well-timed rookie test day could prove the tonic for PremiAir Racing driver Declan Fraser to find form following a tough Townsville campaign.

The Queenslander delivered a trio of 21st place finishes, and was out-scored by rookie teammate Jayden Ojeda by 83 points. Heading to Perth, Ojeda has emerged as a Finals outside chance.

Fraser — who is engineered by Simon Hodge — did qualify a career best 11th for the Saturday race, albeit bookended by results of 26th and 25th on Friday and Saturday in a field that included two wildcard entries.

All told, Ojeda — who is engineered by Andrew Gilliam — has emerged strongest of the two drivers at the halfway, leading the qualifying head-to-head 17-3 and 14-4 in the races, and is 293 points up the road.

It’s worth noting that Ojeda is by far the best performing rookie — he is 245 points ahead of next best Zach Bates, while his eight top 10s are well ahead of next best Rylan Gray’s two.

The gap between the #31 and #777 has widened since New Zealand — in the last nine races, Ojeda has a qualifying average of 10.6 to Fraser’s 19.7, and race average of 10.2 to 19.1.

Speaking post-round, Team Principal Roland Dane was curt: "With the #777 car, we’ve got plenty to do. It’s simply not fast enough at the moment, and we’re not in the right postcode with it yet."

On Ojeda, Dane added: “The #31 car was reasonable, and we came away with some solid results, which is probably about where we’re at right now. There’s still a bit of work to do to take the next step forward."

It comes after Dane said post-Darwin: "We certainly expected more from the #777 car, and there were simply too many mistakes across the weekend. That's not acceptable by our standards."

Wednesday’s rookie day at Ipswich is understood to have been planned for some time, rather than being a reaction to Fraser’s recent struggles. It is Fraser’s only allocated rookie test of the year.

The steering rack in the #777 Chevrolet was also changed after Saturday’s race.

Ojeda defended Fraser on Supercars' Equip Super Cool Down Lap podcast: "He struggled a bit with some steering problems this weekend which we couldn't really get on top of with his car, which is a shame, because I think as a team, it'd be really nice to have two cars pushing each other along in the races and qualifying, and learning from each other."

Fraser starred on the opening lap of Sunday’s race charging from 25th to 17th, before dropping back down the order. Conversely, Ojeda reached the Top Ten Shootout, and claimed his eighth top 10 finish of the season.

“It was a tough day at the office for us. Qualifying didn’t go the way we wanted, but we made a really strong start to the race and picked up a lot of ground on the opening lap,” the 2022 Super2 champion said.

"Unfortunately, we didn’t quite have the pace to hold onto those positions and slipped back through the pack as the race went on. It’s disappointing, but it is what it is, and we’ll take the lessons from it and move forward.

"I’m still hungry for more, and I’m heading into Perth really keen to get after it and come back stronger.”

Tickford Super2 driver Nash Morris will partner Fraser in the enduros, with David Russell to race with Ojeda.