The 2023 International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) will soon be upon us and Australia’s teams is looking to claim a seventh overall victory in this high-profile motorcycle race. But they need your help.
What is this bonkers event?
The ISDE is the oldest FIM competition, running since 1913 and known as the “Olympics of Motorcycle racing” – 30 nations from five continents gather to battle in this epic journey of endurance, determination and triumph. The riders must survive six days of gruelling racing, repairs and total chaos – an insane test of machine and rider. All mechanical repairs must be done unassisted within two 15-minute time slots outside of the competitor’s allocated daily riding time. I don’t know about you, but it takes me a tad longer than 15 minutes to change my tyres, mousses, air filters and check the nuts and bolts. And that’s if you don’t have a stack, which in enduro is almost inevitable, especially after many, long, hard consecutive days of racing.
The 2023 edition sees the competition head to San Juan, Argentina to face treacherous rocky, sandy dry terrain amongst spectacular mountain scenery.
Due to absurd costs, Motorcycling Australia announced in August they’d only be sending one team this year – the women’s. This is understandable for anyone who’s flown anywhere post-COVID-19, as the costs to get the riders there are astronomical, let alone all the freight.
Why did Australia choose the women’s team?
The girls are our prized six-time ISDE World champions. The senior men’s team have won it twice.
Who are these battle-hardened riders?
Jessica Gardiner – six-time ISDE World Champion, 14-time Australian Off Road Champion, and is currently running second in the FIM World Enduro Championship against the best women on the planet. Jess decided to give the World GP one last crack this year, and with three rounds to go, she could become a World Champion in multiple Enduro World Championships.
Tayla Jones – Arguably one of the best off-road female riders Australia has ever seen. Tayla is one of our most successful exports and is currently living in America. Tayla shares those six ISDE World Championships on Team Australia with Jess and is a multi-time GNCC, Sprint Enduro World Champion and AMA National Enduro Champion. She was the first Australian woman to win a GNCC.
Danielle McDonald – One of the most exciting junior female talents in the country right now, she will soon be stepping up to seniors in off-road and motocross. Although her list of accolades isn’t as heavy as Jess and Tayla’s, she should not be seen as a weak link, more as a dark horse. Danielle is a multiple junior off-road title winner and a four-time winner of the gruelling Hattah Desert Race. A fierce competitor, big things await Miss McDonald with the guidance of her team boss, Jess Gardiner.
The team will have many good vibes returning to Argentina’s San Juan. It was the location of Jess and Tayla’s 2014 World Championship win. There’s nothing like some champagne memories to kick off a six-day.
The girls take off in early November, but in the meantime, they are unsurprisingly on the hustle. For three women to compete, it will cost over $100k. Let that brain-warping, wallet-emptying, credit-card-maxing figure sink in. If you’d like to help this Australian team get to San Juan to win another world title, click this link.
We look forward to following their journey November 6 -11. Good luck to you, our world class fast Aussie femmes.
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