The Yamaha MXstore Ballards Offroad Team was in Toowoomba, QLD
over the weekend for rounds 1&2 of the Yamaha Australian Offroad Championships
(AORC).
Jess Gardiner and youngster Danielle McDonald both walked away from the weekend with wins after the event was run in ideal conditions
The team riders were also present at the local primary on
Friday morning to present 270 kids with signed posters and talk to them about
motorcycling and enduro.
The nerves were high for all riders as they went into Saturdays racing after 4
months without riding against the other competitors. The blucru presence was
very strong and the team had all their new gear on display.
Jess Gardiner came out full swing on Saturday for round 1, winning every test in
the Women‰Ûªs category on her WR250F. Claiming the day victory over Emelie
Karlsson for 1 minute and 49 seconds. Gardiner stated, ‰ÛÏI really enjoyed the
special tests today as it was more technical and suited my riding style. My new
2020 WR250F didn‰Ûªt miss a bit and I‰Ûªm really impressed with this new bike‰Ûªs
performance‰Ûª.
Jeremy Carpentier piloted his WR450F to a hard earned 12th outright on the Pro
track (separate to the track Gardiner raced) and 8th in the stacked E2 category. A
big crash in the 1st sprint and damaging a gear lever resulted in Jeremy playing
catch up for the remainder of the day. Jeremy said, ‰ÛÏI really struggled on the
track today as it was really high speed and with a few annoying injuries over the
offseason, I definitely missed some bike fitness.‰Û
