JESS GARDINER: 100 AORC PODIUMS & COUNTING!

Jess Gardiner, fresh back from the Australian Women’s team bronze medal performance at the International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) in France, kept the momentum rolling with another weekend of dominant victories at last weekend’s Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) in South Oz. And with her lead in the standings now out to a commanding 27 points – and only two rounds to go – the 29-year-old JGR Yamaha rider is well on track to win her seventh AORC crown.

The weekend in South Australia also saw Gardiner notch up another incredible milestone: her 100^th podium finish in the AORC – a remarkable testament to both her speed and stamina as an athlete.

“With two solid wins in the EW class, it was a great way to hit another mega milestone in my career – my 100^th AORC podium result,” explained Gardiner after her back-to-back wins in South Oz’s tricky, changeable conditions. “To be honest, I’m not really someone who keeps track of stats or uses them to motivate myself. All those stats come from a freelance photographer called Russel Colvin. But to think that I notched up 100 AORC podiums from 104 starts over the past 12 or 13 years that I’ve raced the series is pretty special and something to be proud of. Russel tells me that, statistically, I’m now a 50.3% chance of winning an AORC race [laughs]. A massive thankyou to everyone in my corner for loving and supporting this sport as much as I do.”

While we’re talking impressive stats for Jess Gardiner, try these Women’s class stats for size:

• Six-time AORC title winner
• Six-time ISDE winner with the Aussie Women’s Trophy team (along with another three ISDE third-place finishes)
• Two-time Outright winner of the ISDE
• Three-time third-placegetter in the Enduro World Championship
• Six-time Australian 4-Day Enduro (A4DE) winner (from nine attempts)
• One-time winner of the French National Enduro Championship
• One-time winner of the European Enduro Championship

Gardiner is also doing a damn good job of mentoring the young rising star of women’s enduro, 15-year-old Danielle McDonald, who has now won every round of the AORC’s JG (Junior Girls) class this year and sits 24 points ahead of her nearest rival with two rounds remaining.

“Danielle is fantastic young rider,” says Gardiner. “And it’s been great for me to be able to give back to the sport I love by supporting young riders because it was mentoring from people like Geoff Ballard that helped me get to where I am. Danielle has one more year in Juniors, and then I’m looking forward to her being able to join us at the ISDE in 2024. I absolutely think she’ll be good enough to be selected on Australia’s Women’s Trophy team by then. She came over with her family to the ISDE in France a few weeks ago, just to get a first-hand look at what the event is all about, and she thought the whole thing was really cool. Making that effort also says a lot about her intentions and ambition in the sport,” Gardiner went on to say.