Ojeda and co-diver Paul Lucchitti enter the fourth round of the season in Darwin second in the championship standings, just nine points behind Tigani teammates Brendon Leitch and Sergio Pires.
Queensland Raceway proved to be a tough round for the pair, with finishes of seventh and fourth.
Results were hampered by poor qualifying, in stark contrast to their teammates, with Targett and Justin Tigani sweeping both pole positions and Leitch/Pires also starting on the front row.
“The biggest lesson out of Ipswich is not really a lesson, but just a constant reminder for us was just to qualify well,” Ojeda said.
“I didn’t do a good job in qualifying and qualified out of position, which then just made passing really difficult, as it always is in GT3 – especially around QR with the aero wash and the front tyres overheating.
“Ultimately, just a constant reminder of the intricacies and how difficult it is to pass and race in these GT3 cars sometimes.”
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While GTWCA has never raced at Hidden Valley, Ojeda enters the event with strong showings in the recent Supercars event at the venue.
“For sure, the previous Supercar experience is always beneficial,“ he added.
“Any time you can see a circuit recently, or just in general, regardless of what car you’re in, is always a big help.
“These GT cars around Darwin will be pretty fun. The low-speed stuff, especially the hairpin, might not be too dissimilar to what a Supercar would be like, just purely relying on the mechanical balance.
“The last sector will be pretty exciting with the flowing nature of the circuit. So, I think the racing will be interesting. It’s normally a bit of a hard circuit to overtake. It will be challenging racing, and qualifying will be quite important.”
Targett sits seventh in the points, however comfortably leads the SRO Academy standings, the prize for which is a funded drive at the 24 Hours of Spa next year.
Looking ahead to Darwin, Targett expects the racing to be closer than usually seen with aero-dependent GT3 machinery.
“There aren’t too many aero-dependent areas at Hidden Valley, so hopefully we will be able to run closer to cars ahead,“ Targett said.
“The obvious cooling issues I’m sure will arise but I think passing will be possible.
“We might struggle a little on the long run down to turn one off starts and early in the race with our lack of straight-line speed but we will have to wait and see.”
Targett and regular co-driver Shane Smollen have been left to rue missed opportunities, including being spun at Phillip Island, and a penalty following a procedural error at The Bend.
“If I was looking from a rookie season point-of-view, I would say nine out of ten, but really I would say my season has been a six out of ten so far,“ Targett said.
“It’s always hard to judge yourself though because you see every little thing that could have been done better. It’s probably a question for the boss.
“I don’t want to be compared to other rookies previously. I want to compete with the best of the best and I think this is the category to do it.
“Both one lap pace and long run pace has been evolving and I hope everyone can see that. There is still room to grow from both a driving and procedural point of view.
“I want to put myself in a position by the end of the year that I can put together a program to come back again next year with everything I have learnt and have a full tilt at the championship.”
GT World Challenge Australia makes its first visit to Hidden Valley this weekend, July 24-26 as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries GT Festival Darwin.
Field set for GT World Challenge Australia’s maiden Darwin visit




























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