MA Women

The dynamic duo, both members of Australia's 2011 International Six Day Enduro Womens bronze-medal team, have jetted to Europe this week to take their place within the elite eleven-rider-strong Womens Class field.

Gardiner, who currently leads the Womens Class in the 2012 Australian Off-Road Championships (AORC), will ride for the O Pons Yamaha race team, while Wilson will pilot a Yamaha  for the INA TV Racing Team.

The 2012 Enduro World Championship gets underway with the opening rounds in Spain on 4-6 May, before moving to Portugal for the second round on 11-13 May.

Both Australian riders will contest the first two rounds of the EWC season, to be held in Spain on 4-6 May and Portugal on 11-13 May, before heading back to Australian shores for the seventh and eight rounds of the 2012 AORC in Broadford on 19-20 May.

Meghan Rutledge, Australia?s premiere female Motocross rider, has been selected along with 9 other athletes to compete in the Moto X Racing ? Women?s class on board a KX250F at the world renowned event.

Meghan takes her place among an immensely talented field of Motocross riders from all around the world including Ashley Fiolek, Jessica Patterson and fellow Kawasaki rider Vicky Golden.

Meghan is excited to be included in X Games for 2012, saying, ?I?m pumped to be chosen. This is definitely a stepping stone for me to achieve my goals and dreams. I can?t wait to ride with some of the biggest names in women?s motocross. I want to give a big thanks to Kawasaki USA (KMC) for supplying me with a KX250F to ride while I?m in the USA.?

Meghan will head to the USA in mid May where she will compete at three rounds of the WMX championship and X Games.

- Rudi Baker

Now in its sixth year, this global campaign aims to promote and highlight the many numbers of women riders who share their passion for motorcycle sport and gains continues to gain considerable strength each year.

The campaign welcomes all ages and styles of motorcycles, and makes just one simple request of participants ? to get out there and JUST RIDE!

Since its inception the campaign has become a true global affair, and in  2012, events are set to take place in a swag of countries including England, Greece, Australia, Italy, United States, Poland, Israel, Qatar, South Africa, and The Netherlands.

?The 2012 edition is exploding with events! Women riders pride themselves in taking part in the day, whether just for a short ride or as many do, take the day off work to spend with rider friends,? says International Ride Day founder Vicki Gray.

?We still need these female role models in motorcycling to continue dispelling still present perceptions that riding a motorcycle is an activity akin with masculinity. It?s a super fun day ? the camaraderie is inspiring!

?The penchant women demonstrate for motorcycling has passed through every generation since motorcycling?s birth and this one day brings it out and into focus for all to see! Knowing that women from so many countries and cultures join in and ride together underlines how truly rooted motorcycling is with today?s diverse women."

International Female Ride Day has been officially recognised by the world?s peak motorcycle federation, Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) since 2010.

For more information about the 2012 International Female Ride Day, and to find an event near you, visit the International Female Ride Day and Facebook page. 

Under the Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women program, grants of up to $5000 for indiviudals and $10,000 for organisations are available to assist women to undertake accredited leadership training in the areas of coaching, governance, administration and management, and communications, media and marketing. Sport leadership pathway scholarships of up to $10,000 per annum for three years are also available.

To apply for a grant or scholarship, applicatants must be supported by a sporting oganisation affiliated with a national sporting organisation recognised by the ASC.

Applications will close at midnight on Friday 27 Arpil 2012.

For more inforamtion on the program and to apply, please visit the Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women wepage on the ASC website.

Jemma Wilson currently holds the lead on her Yamaha YZ250F after two rounds of competition, narrowly over Yamaha stable mate Jessica Gardiner. Both are previous AORC winners and have resumed their rivalry for 2012. The pair were separated by little more than one second on day two and had a great battle in tough and trying conditions.

Wilson built a small gap during Saturday?s racing but Gardiner bounced back strongly on Sunday to take it right up to Gardiner.

Wilson is totally aware she must be on her A game every weekend to stay ahead of Gardiner.

"I am really happy to have come away from the opening rounds with two first places. Going into the start of the season you never know where your pace is going to be at, so to win both days is such a great start to 2012."

"I worked hard over the off season and am loving the 2012 YZF250. I am just really looking forward to this years racing," Wilson offers.

The pair sits ahead of Tanya Hearn in third, with Emeile Karlsson in fourth. Karlsson struck problems on during the event, drowning her bike and taking over 20minutes to dewater her YZ250F and get it up and running again.

Rounds three and four will take place later this month at the end of the month in Wonthaggi, Victoria.

AORC Standing- After Two Rounds
Women?s
1st Jemma Wilson (Yamaha)
2nd Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha)
3rd Tanya Hearn
4th Emeile Karlsson (Yamaha      

For all the latest information about the 2012 AORC make sire visit the Official Series website and Facebook  and Twitter pages.

Hearn who finished second in her rookie year in the 2010 AORC Women?s Class and fourth in the 2011 AORC Women?s Class as a privateer racer, has joined the Sydney based Pro Rider KTM team for the 2012 Series.  Having only arrived in Sydney from Cairns Nth Qld last Wednesday to meet the team and test ride her new KTM250EXC-F it was a good start to the season with two third places.

After making changes to her suspension settings and personal bike set up, she was thankful to fellow Women?s Class competitor Jess Gardiner and her family for allowing her to test ride the new bike at their property.

A few months ago back home in Cairns, Hearn moved to a KTM250EXC-F bike for her practice bike so she could get used to the change from the two stroke KTM200 she previously had to the new four stroke she was to race.  Wayne Leonard Motorcycles and CPC Constructions Pty Ltd in Cairns both help her out with her local races and practice bike expenses.

Dungog, near Newcastle NSW was the venue for these first two rounds of the Australian Off Road Championships.  But with a deluge of rain, the event was originally postponed a fortnight so the Enduro course could be remarked.  But this didn?t stop it from being a rutted, boggy mess.  With the wet conditions the course was a real challenge with 46 senior riders on Saturday and 35 on Sunday recorded as either losing trail time or not finishing the event.  Some rain overnight on Saturday didn?t help things at all with slippery trails on Sunday morning.  Riders were not only getting bogged on the trail, but also in the special tests.  It was a true ?Enduro?.

In the Women?s Class Jemma Wilson managed to take the win on both days, if only by a whisker on Day 2, with Jess Gardiner taking home two second places and Hearn rounding out the podium both days with two thirds.

Reigning Women?s Champion Jemma Wilson (Yamaha) is looking forward to getting back on the bike for another season when the AORC opener gets underway in Dungog this weekend.

?It is hard to know what to expect at the beginning of a new season, but it is also exciting wondering who trained hard over the break and who changed bikes. The off season is also a really long time not to catch up with everyone. So I am looking forward to this weekend,? Wilson said.

?I am feeling really good about this year?s AORC. I trained really hard all off season. I am enjoying the off bike training, as much as on the bike, at the moment which makes it really easy.?

It will be a big racing season for the 22-year-old Queenslander, who will balance the task of defending her AORC title against waging a full Enduro World Championship (EWC) campaign on the other side of the globe.

?I think that racing a full season of the AORC and EWC?s will impact both negatively and positively on the AORC season for me,? Wilson said.

?On one hand I am going to have a lot more experience, but on the other it is a pretty hectic schedule. There are four weekends in a row where I race NSW, Spain, Portugal, then Victoria. It is going to be tough but I am definitely looking forward to it all.?

Leading the AORC challenge against Wilson will be Emilie Karlsson, who finished the 2011 Series 12 points behind Wilson to claim the silver podium. The Swedish-born rider will once again pilot a Yamaha as she takes on the Aussie terrain for another testing season.

2010 Champion Jess Gardiner (Yamaha), who took third place in 2011 behind Wilson and Karlsson, will be looking to claim the top spot this Series. With two Australian Four Day Enduro Women?s titles already stashed safely in her trophy cabinet, the Sydney-sider will no doubt bring the challenge to the field.

The trio will be joined on the start line by a crowd of talented female riders, including 2011 fourth-place-finisher Tanya Hearn (KTM), Jennifer Blackwood (KTM), Maddy Rose (Honda) and Kaitlynn Sprenger (Yamaha).

?In the past few years not only the pace of girls racing Enduro but also the numbers have increased heaps, Wilson said. 

?The Australian Four Day Enduro and AORC classes are really competitive all the way down the class. Jess Gardiner and I have been battling for 2 years now, and we are lucky enough to have Emelie Karlsson here again this year. I reckon it is going to be another great year!?

The 2012 AORC opening rounds will unfold this weekend, 10-11 March, in the New South Wales town of Dungog.

For all the latest information about the 2012 AORC visit the Official Series website and Facebook page.