PREMIAIR Racing team principal Roland Dane says there is plenty of water to go under the bridge before it decides on Jayden Ojeda’s teammate for the 2027 Repco Supercars Championship.
Dane confirmed on the eve of the Darwin Triple Crown that standout rookie Ojeda is locked and loaded for next season.
Declan Fraser’s future however remains up in the air, amid his quest for qualifying improvements.
There was a step forward on that front in Darwin, but it’s clear there’s more to do for the 2022 Super2 champion to secure a second season.
“Declan, we have got an option on, but we’re probably nowhere near the point at which we actually make a call yet,” Dane told V8 Sleuth at Hidden Valley of Fraser’s contractual status.
In the middle of its latest rebuild, PremiAir holds 10th in the teams’ championship but has started to show signs of life lately – and there are growing expectations in line with that trajectory.
“I don’t think we lived up to our promise, really,” Dane assessed of the squad’s Darwin display.
“We want to be in the top 10, minimum, all the time.”
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He further noted: “There’s a technique to driving these cars on this tyre, the ’25 (soft) tyre particularly, and getting it right, and there’s times when I think the fact we have got rookies in the cars shows.
“And we’re not the only ones, but it shows.
“Jayden is the best rookie, but that doesn’t mean we’re at the level yet. It’s still very much a learning process.”
Ojeda is the highest-ranked rookie in the championship, at 13th. Matt Stone Racing’s Zach Bates (17th) is next-best, 196 points back.
Pic: Supplied/Mark Horsburgh