Off Road

Heavy training regiment pays off for Gardiner

Author: Mat Cox

Posted:

Friday, March 16th, 2012

7:42 AM

Womens Yamaha rider Jessica Gardiner came away from the opening two rounds of the Australian Off Road Championship with a solid points haul after taking second overall.

Saturday's second did not come easy for Gardiner with crashes costing her valuable time on the technical tests allowing fellow Yamaha rider Jemma Wilson to take advantage.

Gardiner showed impressive speed in the afternoon race taking the holeshot aboard her WR250, leading the way until washing the front end close to the finish. Gardiner managed to re mount and hold onto second position for the day.

Sunday was a new day with Gardiner looking to put her Yamaha into the number one position but an early mistake made Gardiner have to work hard to make up the time lost.

"I had a crash up a rock face in the enduro test, A silly little mistake which cost me valuable time' Gardiner stated. 'I felt strong the rest of the day, the grass track tests were getting nice and rutted which made me more confident".

Gardiner ready to race the opening round of the 2012 AORC: Photo Credit: Meakan Kellner

After the six tests were run Gardiner managed to close the gap on Wilson to just one second to take second position on the podium and second overall in points for the Championship.

Gardiner spent some preseason training in California before returning back to Australia with a month to prepare for the opening round at Dungog which she believes really helped her preparation coming into round one of the AROC.

"I did a fair amount of training, riding five to six days a week, which was really good being able to spend so long on the bike' Gardiner explained. ' I came back home and rode three to four times a week against the clock making sure each time I learnt something new".

"I also juggle this between a full time job,with my boss at JK Williams being really supportive giving me the time off to go racing. I expect to do really well at the next round in Wonthaggi as it is apparently sandy which is similar terrain to where I train" she concluded.

Main Photo: Gardiner and Wilson battled hard over the two days.
Photo Credit: Meakan Kellner