Gardiner Claims Another A4DE Crown

Media Information: 9 May 2022

The Yamaha JGR Ballards Off Road Team finished the event with Gardiner taking the win in the Women’s division while Jeremy Carpentier also made a trip to the podium taking a third place finish in the E1 class (250cc), making for a successful event for the team.

To view the Yamaha JGR team video of the event: https://youtu.be/GPDy8GFpvx4

With the A4DE being a senior only event, it was left to Gardiner and Carpentier to fly the team flag as Danielle Macdonald is still too young to compete. But they did the job with both riders pulling down great results in challenging four days of racing.

Gardiner continues to enhance her reputation as Australia’s best-ever female off road racer and another victory in the 2022 A4DE does nothing but cement her as one of the best. She was a cut above her rivals and claimed the championship win with over a five-minute margin back to her nearest rival. 

Each day saw her lead consistently grow and come the final day she needed little more than to finish the final moto to be determined the winner, but that isn’t the Gardiner style. She leapt from the start, put her WR250F into the lead and never surrendered it to put the final touches on a commanding performance. 

Her win in the Women’s class saw her finish in 41st Outright against all comers and as this is one of her best finishes ever, she shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

“It’s been a great week down here at Erica and I’m so happy to come away with the win,” she beams not long after the final moto. “I have the support of so many people and they have all played a big part in my success and event like this requires everyone to help-out and I’m so thankful for what everyone has done.

“I didn’t have too many problems during the week apart for a crash here and there as well as my transponder going flat on day three. Otherwise, my bike was awesome and didn’t miss a beat and I’m just proud to have both myself and Jeremy on the podium and representing Yamaha.”

For Carpentier, he was in a weeklong battle with Cooper Sheidow and Blake Hollis for final spots on the E1 podium. Just a handful of seconds were between the riders at stages during the event and each special test would see a change in the leader board.

Carpentier had a fall on day two which proved costly during one of the special tests but he was able to regroup and maintain his podium position to the end of the event, giving Yamaha three of the of the top four results in the E1 category.

“One of my first events when I first came to Australia was an A4DE, so its good to have it back and I enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed my first.

“The racing in the E1 class was close all the way through, part from Kyron. Had had some good results on day one but lost a bit on day 2 but that’s how the race goes, and you just need to stay in it.

“Thank you to Yamaha and our team sponsors for their support and also the Dandenong Motorcycle Club for hosting the event and getting the A4DE back up and running again,” he ends.