Yamaha MXstore Ballards Off-Road Team press release:

The Yamaha MXstore Ballards Offroad Team has had a successful past couple of weekends. The weekend before last Jess Gardiner won both days of the NSW State Enduro Championships in the Women’s category claiming the 2019 NSW Women’s state championship title. Jeremy Carpentier also had a great weekend finishing 3rd both days and remaining consistent to also achieve his first title in Australia, becoming the 2019 Pro NSW state champion!

The team travelled to the picturesque Coonalypn, South Australia for Round 8 and 9 of the Australian Offroad Championships (AORC). The Yamaha MXstore Ballards Offroad Team were in for a real treat after a dusty season, the Gawler Motorcycle club had the race tracks set out in some deep sand terrain and some technical sections. The terrain was something a little bit different then the AORC championship has seen before, whilst still maintaining the sprint format both days over the weekend.

Gardiner set out on Saturday on a mission although a couple of crashes throughout the day caused some tight battles with fellow rival Emma Milesvic, who was hot on Gardiner’s heels. The pair battled it out through 7 special tests, with Gardiner coming out on top for the win by a mere 8 seconds for Round 8! Gardiner explained, “ I really enjoyed the special test today, we had a great combination of deep sad and technical tight bush sections, and they even through in some decent size logs. I enjoyed battling with Emma and it’s rewarding to come out on top at the end of the day”.

Jeremy Carpentier was on a separate racetrack to Gardiner (the Pros track) and it was definitely the most physical track of the weekend. The track was set out in deep sand with high-speed sections with no time to rest or catch your breath. Carpentier also had a couple of falls throughout the day and managed to stay inside the top 10 outright overall for the day and 4th place in the Pro E2 category.

Carpentier signed, “ It was quite challenging out there, I didn’t expect it to be so fast and became really chopped out, making it really hard to hold on and avoid arm pump. I had some good sensations but also a few too many silly falls which made the podium a bit out of reach today”.

The rain fell over night spoiling the riders that little bit more for perfect conditions out on the tracks for Round 9. The groups of riders changed tracks to create a fresh course for everyone to tackle. Carpentier raced what was the junior’s racetrack from the day prior and Jess was to take on the Pro track, which they had destroyed on Saturday.
Gardiner makes AORC History!

Jess had a challenging day on the new track and had nothing for the girls on this style of track as both Emma Milesvic and Emelie Karlsson stayed ahead of her most of the day to round out the podium with a consistent podium finish and a 3rd place on the day. Jess said, “ I think today played with my head out there a little from the first test, I really didn’t like the speed of the test in the deep sand whoops, it is definitely my weak point and know what to work on in this aspect for next year.

“I congratulate both the girls on there riding out there, as it was tough and definitely scary!” Gardiner also made history today being the first female to ever score over 2000 accumulative championship points. (AORC race points since 2010!)

Jeremy really enjoyed his new track change for Sunday, which showed directly in his race results. The track was combined with deep sand and technical bush sections were his European style could shine. Jeremy rode solid all day, with a couple of silly crashes to still hold a very respective 7th outright an 3rd in the Pro E2 category. Jeremy said, “The track today was really fun with a mixture of wide open sand sections and tight technical bush. My WR450F handled amazing all day and happy to come home with this result”.

The next race for the Yamaha MXstore Ballards Offroad Team will be in two weeks time for the final round of the Australian Offroad Championships. Currently in the championship Jeremy sits in 3rd place in the Pro E2 class and Jess is leading the Women’s class by 25 points. The final round will be on the 14th and 15th of September in Hedley, Victoria.