2022 AORC CHAMPIONS CROWNED IN TASSIE

The final round of the 2022 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship presented by MXstore (AORC) has ended with the crowning of champions in Wynyard, Tasmania.

The 2022 AORC championship podium.

• E1 Champion: Kyron Bacon (Shop Yamaha Offroad Racing Team)
• E2 Champion: Joshua Green (Shop Yamaha Offroad Racing Team)
• E3 Champion: Andy Wilksch (Simford Racing, Husqvarna)
• EW Champion: Jess Gardiner (Yamaha JGR Ballard’s Off Road Team)
• EJ Champion: Riley McGillivray (Shepparton Motorcycles, KTM)
• EM Champion: John Baker (KTM Ballina Motorcycles)
• EV Champion: Christopher Thomas (Thomas Lee KTM)
• J4 Champion: Davey Gear (Limestone Coast Motorcycles, Snip Clip & Chip Tree Services)
• JG Champion: Danielle McDonald (Yamaha JGR Ballard’s Off Road Team)
• J3 Champion: Ollie Gear (Sinclair Electrical Naracoorte, Limestone Coast Newcastle)
• J2 Champion: Marcus Nowland (McDonalds Racing)
• J1 Champion: Harley Hutton (Yamaha Motor Australia)

Kyron Bacon: “It’s been a pretty special year for me and even more than I had hoped,” Bacon said from the podium. “My goal for the year was to win the E1 class and go for a top 5 position in Outright honours, so to have won both is amazing and I’m a little speechless to be honest.”

“The last two years we didn’t have much racing but I loved riding, so I kept training and working hard so I was ready when things got back to normal. So, it feels so good to finally get back to racing and then come away winning two championships.”

“I can’t thank AJ, Brandon and the whole ShopYamaha Off-Road Team enough for their support over the past couple of years and also my Dad and family who continue to be a huge part of my racing. The championship has been awesome this year and we have ridden everything from mud and sand through to hard pack and dust, so it’s been a big challenge for us every round but the team always came through and I will always be thankful for their efforts,”.

Joshua Green: “This one means a lot to me in a couple ways,” said Green, “Firstly, it’s been a really fun year and the vibe in the ShopYamaha team has been awesome. Kyron and Blake had been cool teammates and we get along well, the bikes have been good and we all put in the work, so that has been satisfying for me.”

“Also, to win the E2 class is something I have tried to do several times and I was finally able to shake the monkey from my back. The 450 class is always tough as every manufacturer makes a 450 so the depth of competition is always deep.

“Thank you to our team, it’s been over a decade I have been with AJ and Yamaha, and we always find way to keep it fun and exciting. Thankyou to MA and the AORC committee for getting AORC up and going again for 2022 and I look forward to being back here next year for another fun year of racing.”

Andy Wilksch: “I had a bit of a taste of racing in Tasmania at the Australian 4-Day Enduro in 2015 and I knew that if it rained I’d be up against it – Jonte [Reynders] is great in the mud and this is his home event. Initially, it was tough to accept there was someone better than me on the weekend, but I readjusted to get better and learn from it so I could manage the championship. I came into Wynyard with a 20-point lead, so I could afford to drop 10 points a day, but I still wanted to finish the year strongly! Saturday’s tests were really technical and slippery, so you couldn’t afford to relax at all, but conditions improved a lot for Sunday and it was a lot of fun. 2022 has been an awesome year and to finish as the E3 championship has made it even more special.”

Jess Gardiner: “The weekend was tough as the rain made things wet and rutted on both days, but I like that style of riding and enjoy the challenge that it brings. Not sure I enjoyed getting stuck in the mud, in fact, I was ready to give up as I couldn’t get my bike out, by on my last attempt, I was able to get it moving and get back into the race, but I lost around three minutes in just that section.”

“From then on, everything went well, and the bike was perfect all weekend. I wanted to win the final round as that’s the best way to win a championship so it was good feeling to get it done and share it with Danielle who was also able to win her class for the day and the championship.”