Jayden Ojeda will relish the opportunity to familiarise himself with similar machinery that he will compete in the Asian Le Mans Series in Malaysia when he takes to the track in Adelaide this weekend.
The 24-year-old will have one last blast in Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS, competing alongside Chris Batzios in the Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3.
With three 40-minute races scheduled to take place around the challenging Adelaide street circuit, the round will give Ojeda plenty of opportunity to familiarise himself with the car that sees many similarities with the one he will contest with Hong Kong-based Mercedes team, Craft-Bamboo in Malaysia.
Ojeda was presented the opportunity after a successful test in Spain in the previous weeks, with his involvement in the well-renowned Volante Rosso program also playing a key role.
Ahead of the round, Ojeda was looking forward to getting a taste of what is to come in Malaysia next weekend.
“With the ‘Customer Racing’ style Harrolds Volante Rosso does with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, it will give me the opportunity to be behind the wheel of a car like I’ll be driving next weekend in Sepang and I’ll be working with (engineer) Matt Harvey who will be the engineer for Craft Bamboo over there,” Ojeda said.
“Of course, I’m excited by the next few weeks, we’re aiming to finish off the year strong with Harrolds Volante Rosso and then join the team in Malaysia who have such a great record in Asia – but also here in Australia with what they’ve done over time.”
The round will also see Ojeda return to the circuit he made his Dunlop Series Super2 debut, where he was able to find great success.
“Adelaide was my first Super2 Series race and I was able to earn the rookie of the round, which was a great achievement.
“It will be a challenge over the weekend with the three 40 minute races. I’ll be racing with Chris for the first time, but he’s been racing with team through last year and this year moving into GT3, so it isn’t a total unknown.
The GT category will join a number of other Shannons SpeedSeries featured categories in Adelaide this weekend, including Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters and the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship.
The GT category will include a busy schedule across the weekend, with two practice sessions to take place on Thursday before qualifying is held on Friday morning.
The first race of the weekend will then take place later in the afternoon, with races two and three to see early start times on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS will conclude its 2023 season at the VAILO Adelaide 500 event on 23-26 November.
