Jess Gardiner, Marcus Nowland and Lorna Lock can all add the 2025 Australian Enduro Championship in their resume as they won, they respective classes for the day and the year.
Jess Gardiner has stopped counting how many championships see has won but her motivation to keep racking them up hasn’t changed a bit. Despite a spirited challenge from Madi Simpson early in the year, Gardiner used her years of experience and knowledge to get down to business in the later part of the season, minimise any mistakes and home in on the 2025 EW championship.
She pulled it off with a round to spare and then went on to win the final round just to stamp her authority on the championship. Gardiner overcome the heat and dust to finish the championship in the best possible fashion; two round wins and another AEC championship crown on her mantel piece.
“Every year throws up another challenge and winning Australian championships are never as easy as they seem,” Gardiner begins. “This year was no different but I’m fortunate enough to have some great people and team around me that keep me focused and on track when things get tough.
“The weekend was hard as the conditions were so dry. It was powder out there and vision was hard, but we were able to make it through and get it done to finish the year strongly and win a championship.
“Thank you to so many people for always supporting me and this one means a lot,” Gardiner ends.
Marcus Nowland made it back-to-back championships after winning the J3 championship in 2024, he stepped up to the J4 in 2025 and kept on his winning ways. He ended the final weekend of racing with a ten-point lead over his rivals, but that was far from comfortable given the conditions and the competition.
But Nowland did what champions do, he rose to the occasion and got it done. He dominated proceedings on both days and cemented his position at the top of the championship table.
He showed good pace in the dry and dusty conditions, won the majority of tests over the weekend, and rode smart when the situation required it.
It has been a successful final year in junior racing for Nowland that included wins in the AEC, victory at Hattah in the junior class as well as a top 10 result in the Australian Junior Motocross Championship.
“It was my last year of juniors so my goal was to win as much as I could before I move into seniors this year. I had a few hiccups along the way but managed to achieve most of my goals and had a great time with my family going to the races.
“My parents have given me so much support in racing over the years so it’s always good to win some championships for them and a reward for the sacrifices they make.
“It’s under 19s in 2026 and I can’t wait,” Nowland ends.
Lorna Lock was drafted into the JGR Yamaha team as a replacement for Danielle McDonald after she moved to the USA to race full time in 2025. Those are big shoes to fill with McDonald extremely successful before she left, but Lock is well on the way to proving she has what it takes to do it.
Her first year of racing all the AEC rounds has seen her win the JG division on her YZ85 and improve with each and every outing. Under the guidance of Jess Gardiner, Lock has become a regular front runner in the JG class and her speed combined with consistency and racing maturity has seen her win the championship.
“It was exciting for me to just get the chance to race with Jess and her team and now I have won a championship for her, and it feels good,” she said.
