It was an impressive weekend of racing for round 3 and 4 of the Australian Offroad

Championship (AORC) at Queensland Moto Park. The Yamaha JGR Ballard’s Offroad team

girls Jess and Danielle had brilliant results. The racing was tough due to the dry conditions

and the seniors riding a true enduro format with timecards, covering about 6-7hours on the

bike both days. The juniors were on their own sprint format.

After a successful trip to Europe for the opening rounds of the World Enduro

Championships, where Jess came home with 2nd overall in the championship with 3 rounds

remaining. Jess had a bad flu for opening rounds of the season, but she is back to her true

form and didn’t it shine over the weekend.

Jess dominated the women’s category on Saturday winning by over 4 minutes to Ebony

Neilson(2nd) and Taylor Thompson (3rd). Gardiner stated, “It’s nice to be back fighting strong

and healthy again, I really enjoy the enduro format as it challenges us mentally and

physically. With the experience it makes it easier in these tough conditions. The tracks

deteriorated fast, with bulldust on top, a mix of hard pack and huge rolling rocks plucking

out of the ground. Smooth was certainly the fastest way to navigate this weekend!”

Jess went on to secure another win in the Women’s class on Sunday by over 3 minutes to

Emelie Karlson (2nd) and Ebony Neilson (3rd) respectively. With Jess putting her Yamaha

WR250F back on the top step both days, she now takes back the championship lead by 16

points to 2nd place. A very comfortable championship lead going into the gap in the AORC

calendar, that allows for the A4DE and Hattah races coming up in between. Jess said, “I felt

great this weekend, my bike performed unreal, and my Promoto Suspension really

smoothed the track out for me. I haven’t seen a true enduro style race like this in a long

time and it was a great event to have before the Australian Four Day Enduro (A4DE) and

next world rounds, all coming up in the next 6 weeks. Thank you to all our sponsors that

make going racing at this level possible, I really appreciate it”.

It was a tough weekend on the junior sprint loop in the

dusty conditions and especially for our girl Danielle

McDonald as she is nursing a wrist injury. Showing she

is true to her grit and tough as nails, Danielle won the

Junior Girls category by over a minute to nearest

competitor Madison Simpson for round 3 on Saturday

aboard her WR250F.

Coming into round 4 Sunday, Danielle was very sore

from the previous day riding, lots of strapping tape and

solid wrist brace again helped her get through the day

safely and secured a great 2nd place. Understanding that

championships are won from consistency and not

necessarily winning every day, was a great lesson young

Danielle learnt over the weekend. Danielle continues to

lead the Australian Junior Girls championship.

Danielle expressed, “It was certainly a tough weekend

for me to mentally push through the pain and stay

consistent. I appreciate all the teams help and my

parents for getting me through. I am very happy to be in

the championship lead. Looking forward to a few weeks

off to heal up for my next big event with the team at

Hattah Desert race.

Jeremy Carpentier is still on the sidelines as he finishes recovering from a broken wrist but is

expected to be back in action for the A4DE next month in WA. Jeremy was a great help to

the team over the weekend, making sure the JGR girls had everything they needed or

required help with.

The next event for Jess and Jeremy (senior riders) of the Yamaha JGR Ballard’s Offroad Team

will be the A4DE on the 17th-20th May in Harvey, WA. Jess will then fly directly to Europe the

21st of May to compete in rounds 3 -4 of the Word Enduro Championships in Finland and

Sweden the following weekends.

Please see the official team video here: https://youtu.be/HDigXnKhMQg

Jess will release a VLOG in the next week on her Jess Gardiner You Tube channel.

Please follow the riders via their social media pages to keep up to date.

@jessgardiner737

@jeremycarpentier44

Thank you to everyone for supporting the Yamaha JGR Ballard’s Offroad Team