Ojeda Stars as Toyota 86 Guest Driver

Penrith local and Bathurst 6 Hour winner Jayden Ojeda enjoyed a quick cameo appearance in the opening round of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Series in Townsville over the weekend.

The Supercars endurance and Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia driver was invited as one of two guest drivers in the competitive one-make series. 

Despite it being his first time in the car, Jayden was immediately on the pace and the concrete-lined street circuit. After two practice sessions Friday morning, that afternoon, he secured pole position for the opening race with the fastest time of 1m 29.4714s. 

“I loved my time as the Toyota guest driver at Townsville on the weekend,” said Jayden.

“The whole Toyota crew and Neil Bates team were extremely accommodating and made it a very enjoyable weekend.”

“Having never seriously driven a Toyota 86 before, it was awesome to jump in and straight away the on the pace some of the seriously quick young kids.”

Jayden backed up his performance in qualifying in Saturday’s opening race of the weekend. After duelling with series regular Ryan Casha during the opening laps of the race, Jayden was able to get by the Queenslander on the third lap of the race to take the lead and the win in Race 1.

Also, making Jayden one of only a handful of invited guest drivers to stand on the top step of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Series podium.

Unfortunately, an electrical issue right before the second race of the weekend Saturday afternoon hampered his perfect run, forcing him to start from the pitlane after a quick repair from the Toyota crew.

Relegated to the back of the 33-car field, Jayden showed the youngsters how it’s done, making his way through to 17th by the end of the race.  

Progress that he continued in Sunday’s third and final race of the weekend to make his way up to eighth with some crafty passing. 

“To qualify on pole and be one of just three guest drivers to win a race in the series was awesome,” Jayden continued.

“Although it was disappointing that an electrical problem during the out lap forced me to start from the pitlane for race two, it was still heaps of fun to work my way back through the pack to come home and 17th.”

“Then to continue to move forward up to eight by the end of Race 3, rounded off a great weekend.”

As part of his role as one of the invited drivers to the Toyota Gazoo Racing Series, Jayden was also on hand to provide mentoring for the young drivers who regularly compete in the series.

“I loved taking on a mentoring role across the weekend,” explained Jayden.

“Similar to my driver coaching work, I enjoyed offering my advice to the young drivers of the series. Helping them how I’d go about certain situations as well as going through data and video and explaining certain things to them.”

“Thank you again to Neil Crompton and his Airtime team, Toyota and Neil Bates Motorsport, as well as all of my partners who continue to support me.”

“I’m really enjoying my time trying a variety of different cars this year, and it always helps when you get the result back it up also.”

“Now, I’m looking forward to having all my local supporters trackside as we switch focus back to the Harrolds Volante Rosso Mercedes AMG GT3 for our next round at Sydney Motorsport Park later this month.”

The Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia will join the support card for the next round of the Repco Supercars Championship, the Sydney SuperNight end at Sydney Motorsport Park, July 28-30.