While the fortunes of struggling teammate Declan Fraser have taken much of the recent limelight, Ojeda has risen to the edge of a Finals Series berth.
The 26-year-old is now 12th in the standings and the clear standout of the five-strong rookie pack with six top 10 finishes in the last nine races.
Townsville netted a ninth, an 11th and a 10th, which came from grid positions of ninth, 17th and 10th.
“It’s probably a reflection of where we are at the moment,” Dane told Speedcafe of Ojeda’s run at the Reid Park street circuit.
“We’ve got maybe a little bit better potential qualifying speed than we have race speed, but we’re getting better at it all the time.
“You look at it, even Triple Eight might have had a bad weekend, but they’re still up there, along with Groves, one of the DJR cars, at least one of the Tickford cars, both the Walkinshaw cars…
Take the short survey.
“It’s a little bit like looking at F1 at the moment where you’ve got four big teams and then you’ve got the midfield scrapping.
“I hate it, but that’s how it feels that it is at the moment. I don’t think we’re miles away, but we’ve got to try and take that next step.
“You see that Anton [De Pasquale]’s sometimes up there, sometimes not, it’s very variable for all of us at the moment.”
Dane was brought into the PremiAir fold this season by its owner Peter Xiberras to lead the previously struggling operation to the front.
The move ruffled feathers at Triple Eight, given Dane’s appointment came just a year after cutting ties with the team he founded.
Asked for his take on Triple Eight’s struggles in Townsville, Dane said: “It’s happened in the past.
“They still raced pretty well, but I was surprised they never really got on top of qualifying over the weekend.
“I don’t know how the team operates anymore. I’m not a part of it, so I can’t say what’s good or bad.
“But there’s two very good drivers and there’s plenty of good people there, so I suspect they might sort it out. Time will tell.”
Fraser chasing ‘last bit of the puzzle’ amid uncertain future
Discussion about this post