STORY MOTORCYCLING AUSTRALIA PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN PEARSON
An incredible performance from Team Australia’s Ladies team has lead to a sixth-straight World Title!
After five days of Enduro racing in blinding dust and stifling heat, day six presented our three ladies with a short and fast Motocross circuit, where the value of remain mistake free is utterly critical to your individual and the team’s overall success. With the Pacific Ocean set as the backdrop to the action-packed final day of the 2018 ISDE, Vina del Mar put on a spectacular show for all attending fans, and Australia pulled out all stops to gain further ground on Team USA.
Scoring another consecutive win overall for the day, Tayla Jones clocked in the fastest time for Team Australia of 10:23.76, leaving not a shadow of a doubt as to her rightful place as first overall in the class. Sitting in second overall was Brandy Richards from Team USA, whose battles with Jones over the past six days simply couldn’t knock Jones off her perch, with a divide of just under three minutes separating the two riders in the final results. Jessica Gardiner clocked in the second fastest time for the team in day six of 11:21.54, which has secured her place as fourth overall, sitting behind Livia Lancelot from Team France by just over six minutes. 2018 Australian Women’s World Trophy Team debutante Mackenzie Tricker proved her place in the team of three, rounding out the team to score ninth position overall. At the close of an emotional and record breaking 2018, Team Australia has taken out the world title, first place overall, and placed all three ladies in the top ten of the class!
Leading the charge throughout the past six days, Tayla Jones is a world class veteran of the ISDE, and couldn’t be happier with the results for 2018. Jones stated; “it was a good six days! We had a strong team, we got some good times at the start of the week which really helped overall, and towards the end we stayed consistent which helped reduce the overall stress from the event. I’m really happy to get a sixth consecutive title, which is a new record!
“I’m also really honoured to get the overall championship! I have won once it before but there is no doubt that the second time is 10 times better.
“I would like to give a big thank you to the whole Australian team, the supporters, helpers and volunteers – we couldn’t have done it without them. I would also like to thank the whole Women’s World Trophy Team, Mackenzie and Jess, they’re great teammates.
“I would also like to thank all my supporters and sponsors back home, and everyone who made this possible!”
Teammate Jessica Gardiner was as elated with the end result as Jones, stating; “it’s day six and finally we’ve gone through a really solid, hard week. The whole Team Australia helped us get through and we’re really happy to become six-time World Champions!
“It’s not every day that Aussies are six-time World Champions, it takes a lot of consistency and hard work. I couldn’t be happier have ridden with Mackenzie and Tayla, they’re great teammates and they’ve made it a lot of fun all week!”
With a first time ISDE Women’s World Trophy title under her belt, Mackenzie Tricker is elated with the record-breaking result, highlighting; “it was my first ISDE, and it started off pretty good in day one and two, but as the week went on, I felt like I went downhill. As we moved closer to day six, I just tried to salvage what I could and finish, but I felt pretty rough. I am absolutely stoked to have finished the event and have learnt a lot in the process.
“I was part of a great team and in the end, we were able to get the win!”