Picture: Jemma Wilson (Image: Erika Fish)

The 2012 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) looks set to produce another year of brilliant Women’s competition, with some of the best Aussie female riders signed on to contest the 2012 Series.

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.

The AORC is an annual epic battle, bringing hundreds of Enduro riders and their bikes face-to-face with the best and worst of the tough Aussie elements to test themselves against the conditions and the clock. The 2012 Series will play out over twelve challenging rounds across four Australian states, kicking off in New South Wales in February and concluding in South Australia in August.

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For further information please contact:

Megan Hannan
Communications Officer
Motorcycling Australia

Tel: (03) 9684 0511

www.ma.org.au

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