The 25-year-old logged a trio of 21st place finishes in Townsville, as a career-best 11th in Friday qualifying was followed by a pair of back-row starts.
Team boss Roland Dane bluntly declared the #777 Camaro’s results as “not good enough”, but denied claims the driver could be replaced mid-season.
There is no doubt, though, Fraser is driving for his future, as the team is yet to pick up its option on him for 2027 and is exploring the market.
Fraser currently sits 18th in the standings, six spots and almost 300 points shy of his rookie teammate Jayden Ojeda, who is locked in for next year.
The Queenslander struggled with tyre management in Townsville, but says qualifying has largely been his Achilles heel this season.
Fraser is in his second full-time Supercars campaign after contesting the 2023 season with Tickford Racing.
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“At the end of the day, it’s qualifying. If we can qualify up there, I feel like in Darwin I had really good long stint pace,” Fraser told Speedcafe.
“Unfortunately [in Darwin] I got turned around in one race, got turned around in another race, so the cards were stacked against us in that sense and not really getting to show our hand.
“I feel like if we just had stayed in those positions, because after the first lap, I was right behind Juice [Ojeda], so I really don’t think there’s that much of a difference.
“I’ve just got to get that last little bit of the puzzle and it’ll be fine.”
Fraser described the result in Townsville as an outlier, noting that in previous rounds he’d always managed tyre degradation well.
Tyre life will be a point of focus in Perth, with Wanneroo Raceway characterised by a coarse surface and signature sandy verges.
“I love Perth, I’ve been there a few times now, I like going there, it’s a fun track,” Fraser said.
“It’s going to be very close in qualifying because there’s not many turns, so there’s not a lot of deviation there and we’re already so close.
“I think making sure we qualify well and then just managing the deg, I feel all year I’ve done a really good job with the deg in the races.
“Townsville is an outlier, which is why we need to figure out why it was like that because Darwin, we always came home strong and we’ve always extended our stints because of how good our race pace and deg’s been.
“So moving forward, we’ll analyse Townsville, but not let it get to our heads and just go out in Perth and do our thing.”
Fraser also hailed the opportunity to turn laps at QR following a Townsville weekend in which he’d complained of steering issues.
“I think the more laps you can do, the happier you’re going to be,” Fraser added.
“This day was obviously very beneficial to be able to do it so close to a round, it works out pretty well.
“Just to keep the consistency of being in the car, because I feel like every time I’ve gone out, I’ve learned something new and I’ve implemented it in the next round, as we’ve seen in my qualifying, it’s always taking a step up.”
The Supercars Championship returns on July 31-August 2 with the Perth Super440 at Wanneroo Raceway.
‘Not good enough’: Dane searching for answers to Fraser struggle
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