You might know Jayden Ojeda as the winner of the Bathurst 6 Hour earlier this year - or even his recent Bathurst 1000 starts.
As a professional race car driver and driver coach, Jayden has a long-standing relationship with us here at Focus Driver Performance, so we sat down with him to get a little bit of history of his time here and how he has used our services over the years to develop to the driver that he is today.
So, Jayden, how long have you been working with Focus Driver Performance? And how did that help you initially?
“My relationship started with Focus Driver Performance back when it was its predecessor Euroz Driver Performance back in 2017.”
“Originally, they got me in to help develop the Formula Ford model, being it was such a bespoke car and having competed for two years in the Formula Ford series. And I think I was in my third year of driving a Formula Ford at that point. So I helped to develop that model.”
“At the time, obviously, there was nothing remotely close to anything like that in Australia, so going into Formula 4, I was learning a new car and tracks I hadn't been to as well, so I used Focus Driver Performance’s services in a limited capacity, and I trained in the sim before every event for probably two hours.”
“Then moving into Super3 and learning a new car once again and a completely new style of racing, we took our training to the next level.”
“Before some events, we were doing almost 400 to 500 laps if I was learning a new track or a new car, and I think that's where I really learned to take full benefit out of the sim, having only done test two test days that year.”
“I think my result truly shows how training properly on a simulator can really reflect in performance, having come second in the championship that year and winning a few of the rounds along the way as well.”
“It was good to do that, and I really took that confidence with the simulator and used that, I guess, for the rest of my career to this point, having religiously used the sim to the point now where we developed the models that I drive a weekly basis and kindly keep updating to keep them up to spec and up to what I'm feeling with the car and really pushing by the limits of my driving.”
You’ve been working with Focus Driver Performance for several years. How do you use our services now as a professional race car driver?
“I don’t go there anymore to just turn laps anymore and learn tracks, having been to most of the ones here locally. So I’m just trying to always create a challenge for myself and just keep developing.”
“As I've grown as a driver, Focus Driver Performance has grown as a company as well, so the growth has been pleasant for both of us. And it is quite cool, as well, really pushing the boundaries of what's possible within training.”
“Both in the simulator and outside the simulator with everything else, they do as well from a cognitive standpoint and using the fitness services available as well.”
“On the cognitive side of things, I’ve probably really been pushing over the past two years.”
“Particularly things like the strobe glasses, the Strobe Sensory Training, which has been really good and seeing how much we can push that in terms of taking in information and really training that muscle memory and feel and just relying on other senses to drive a car.”
“On top of that, all the cognitive stuff outside the sim. Particularly the Batak board and the reflection board, the neuro tracker, and just constantly staying active on them.”
“It's being cool, obviously, having used them now for a fair few years, you know, I still continue to get better even though, you know, a year ago, I would have said that's as good as I’ll ever get, and you go a couple of weeks later, and you beat your score. And then you beat it again next week.”
“You are just constantly improving, which is quite cool to see. It’s like anything, the more you train, the better you get.”
In addition to the sim and the physical training, you’ve also been taking advantage of Focus Driver Performance’s sports psychology as well?
“Yeah, I’ve also been working with Dr. Kotryna Fraser for a year and a half now, which has been great.”
“I know there's a bit of a dark grey cloud and almost a bad mark whenever you mention sports psychologist, but I’m openly talking about her and how good she's been for me.”
“Even the small little things that you might not even consider, just really getting your life in order as a professional athlete and covering all those bases, which has been great to just put you in a good mindset to the whole week. Because ultimately you spend more time away from the race track than you do at it, so that's where all the work and training and all the preparation is really important.”
“Just having the right objectives and goals, it's been great to work with her on those.”
If you, too, would like to develop your skills and hone your training, no matter if you are just starting out in your motorsport career or if you are a seasoned professional, get in touch with us today to find out about our tailored training programs.