IT was a sweet and sour Sunday for PremiAir Racing seven days ago in the opening Supercars enduro of the season.
On the one hand, Jayden Ojeda and David Russell stood tall to be the top Chevrolet finisher in the AirTouch 500 at The Bend.
Fifth place represented Ojeda’s best race result yet at Repco Supercars Championship level and has bolstered his finals chances.
“We had a really strong car in the wet… as the track started to dry, we struggled a little bit. I think a lot of the qualities that made the car really nice in the wet probably worked against us a little once it dried out,” said ‘Juice’.
“Ultimately, though, it was awesome to hang in there and come away with a top-five result. It’s my first top five, which is really special, and an awesome way to finish 500km around Tailem Bend.”
On the flipside, Declan Fraser and Nash Morris walked away empty-handed after their #777 Camaro ground to a halt on the fifth-last lap while running 17th.
Without that zero, PremiAir would have leapfrogged the Blanchard Racing Team in the pitlane order for Bathurst.
“We were going along alright. I had a bit of a run-in with the eventual race winner and unfortunately got spun around at the second-last corner, which was pretty disappointing,” Morris reflected.
“It was really tough out there… in the end, it didn’t really matter too much with the engine issue we had late in the race, but overall there were still some positives to take from the day.”
Now comes the Great Race, in which PremiAir was a podium finisher last year – in fact, James Golding was first to the chequered flag before being demoted to third.
Event-specific silverware aside, Ojeda has a playoffs berth on the line, being one of five drivers covered by 87 points from 10th to 14th in the standings. The others in that gaggle are Jack Le Brocq, André Heimgartner, Thomas Randle, and Golding.
Clear As Mud! | The Undercut
THE Undercut returns, breaking down the latest news in the world of Supercars racing!