Australian teenager Jayden made his car racing debut in McLaren Trophy Europe last year, impressing from the very first race, where he was awarded the Driver of the Weekend award. This year he’s moved to Greystone GT to partner Michael O’Brien in an all Pro line up. They currently hold the championship lead by a fine margin at the mid-season point.
Can he go from championship debutant to champion in just two seasons? We caught up with him at the McLaren Driver Assessment test at Navarra in Spain to find out how he’s developed over his time in the championship.
How has your season been so far?
I think Michael and I have had a very competitive season. We've been pretty much topping the charts every session, every race, every time we've gone out. We're happy with our pace and our competitiveness in the championship. It's definitely been a fun run, it's been tough at times, but we've enjoyed the competition and the challenges that we've had to face along the way. We can't wait for these last two rounds of the season to get underway and just see where we stack up at the end of the year.
It’s your second year of the championship. How do you feel that you’ve developed as a driver?
Last year was my first year in racing, I think I was thrown in the deep end a bit competing in 600 horsepower race car for the first time. It's definitely a lot to wrap your head around, it was a learning curve for sure. I think I had the pace, but ultimately, I didn't have experience. This past year has really allowed me to learn how to be consistent, learn how to drive the car and learn how to be comfortable with other cars around me. I'm finally at a point where I can hop in, get down with what I need to do, have fun and be competitive.
You move to Greystone GT over the winter, how has the team change benefitted you?
For me, the team change was good. It wasn't too much of a crazy transition and I'm very happy with the Greystone GT operation. They're a very professional and well thought out team. I've had people with me every step of the way, some new faces, some old faces. So that definitely helps going into a new team. I love the way they act and the professionalism they bring to racing. Competing in the new Pro class with a professional teammate has definitely helped me to mature as a driver. Racing with someone like Michael, who has just a wealth of knowledge and experience on a racetrack, has helped me to understand areas where I'm good, as well as areas where I can improve even more and just soak up all his experiences.
Has being partnered with Michael helped you identify areas of development in your driving?
That's something that's changed this year massively. Not only have I been able to compare myself to Michael, but we're able to also reference ourselves to other pros within the team, whether that be the other Greystone Pro car or the ProAm pairings that they have. It's enabled everyone to progress together and move forward. Last year, with it being just one car and me sharing with Am racer Fiona (James) it was a bit of a struggle. It was a case of ‘you're quick, but how can I go quicker?’ It was a question that I was constantly asking myself. It was only really based off of how I felt in the car, whereas now you can look at the data and improve based off what you see.
With the introduction of the McLaren Trophy EVO specification car this year, as well as Push-to-Pass, and the new Pro category, there has been a lot of evolution. How have you found the changes?
I think McLaren has made a really good step forward with the EVO car. The introduction of Push-to-Pass has made racing that little bit more strategic. While we're out on track we see people's headlights flashing and we're going ‘oh, he's using it or they're using it’. It's interesting to manage.
Also, the improvements to cooling that have been made to the car have massively improved the racing over the longer stints that we have to do. Then we've found a little extra pace from the aerodynamic improvements that have been made. So, we're going about a second to two seconds quicker this year, particularly at places like Monza, which is a good improvement.
You’re here in Navarra for a test with the factory team, working with the development engineers and factory drivers Marvin Kirchhöfer and Dean McDonald. How have you found it?
It's a very cool experience. We to not only work with the official McLaren team of mechanics and engineers. We also get to work with the official drivers, like Marvin and Dean, who compete at the highest level in GT racing and have a huge level of experience in motorsport. To be able to compare, reference them, and learn off them how McLaren operates as a team and how they interact is really interesting.
It's different to how customer racing is, but at the same time, similar in the sense that you have to be constantly giving feedback to people. In customer racing, it's a bit different because you’re looked after a bit more. Whereas you’re here to do a job, you're a professional and you have to act like it. I’m really enjoying the environment.