As promised, the Women’s class in the Australian Off-Road Championship is going to be a hotly contested affair as Jess Gardiner and Danielle McDonald go head-to-head in 2024.
And after the opening weekend of racing that saw over 30 women compete at the event at Roma, in Queensland, we are know the wiser about who has the upper hand with a split decision after rounds one and two.Gardiner came out swinging early on day one and took it to the field. The reigning champ was in no mood for messing around and quickly established herself as the one to beat this season and she was able to maintain the pace all day long to take a clear win on the opening round.
But day two presented some challenges. Some on-trail issues with a downed rider, then a fall herself all took some wind of out Gardiner’s sails, as well as McDonald starting to find her feet on the longer and rougher tracks, but Gardiner on the back foot early in the day.
Ever the fighter, Gardiner charged her way back, but come up a few seconds short, with McDonald snaring the win with her team manager, right there in her roost at the finish.
“ I love this,” Gardiner said at the end of the weekend. “It was a tough weekend to start the championship with the heat, but it was nice to get the win on day one after such a busy off season.
“And I just as excited for Danielle to get her first win as well. She is going to be a great competitor and even on the weekend, she adjusted quickly to the tougher conditions in the senior racing and improved a lot.
“Also, I would like to acknowledge all the women and junior girls who showed to do race this weekend. It was so good to see over thirty female riders at this round and I hope they all enjoyed and want to do more.
“But thanks to all team sponsors for pulling everything together and making this happen. Now with the first weekend out of the way, we can settle into the season and keep the momentum going our way,” Gardiner ends.
For McDonald, this was her first senior AORC after turning sixteen late last year and as expected, there were some pre-race nerves. But once through the first test and getting an understand of things, McDonald began to find her feet and make adjusts to the conditions.
Day one saw her finish in third and although disappointed, she knew she had more to give and was determined to make amends on Sunday. And she did exactly that, McDonald kept things clean, capitalised on the mistakes of Gardiner and bought home her first AORC Women’s round victory.
“I’m pretty pumped to get the win as it was part of a big learning curve for me this weekend. Saturday I just made too many mistakes and lost a lot of time, but I was able to clean it up a bit for Sunday and while not perfect, it was better and I was able to get the win, so that’s nice.
“Things should be easier from here on as I know what to expect. But thanks to the team and our sponsors for getting everything sorted as well as my family for their support. I can’t wait for the next round and see if I can continue to improve,” McDonald ends.
Jeremy Carpentier logged a solid weekend on his WR450F taking sixth in the E2 class on Saturday and improving one position for fifth on Sunday. Both days saw him just outside the top ten Outright but he is confident he can move up the ranks and improve as the championship progresses.