Gardiner, 16, signed with the Penrith-based Ballards in November shortly before taking part in the Honda Girls on the Gas competition final in Victoria, where she finished in a share of second place, just two points shy of West Austra- lian winner Jessica Moore.

Had she won, she would have elected to forgo the lucrative 12-month motocross sponsorship deal offered by Honda, having decided the Ballards bid was too good to refuse.

"It's a really good opportunity to give my best see how I go," Gardiner said.

"I was pretty lucky actually, I've always had a bit of help through the shop (Ballards Offroad) but not the team, so I was very surprised.

"It's an awesome chance and I didn't want to let it slip away.

"I was planning to get more into the offroad racing anyway and do the four day enduro and this gets me into them with the team.

"I've been doing offroad for two years - my main focus has been motocross but I really enjoy enduros and when this came about I decided to focus on them."

Gardiner said it was a hard decision on face value to take the Yamaha offer when the Honda deal was still a possibility, but when she thought about it there was only one way to go.

"At first I was rapt, it was amazing really, I never thou- ght get the offer so suddenly," she said.

"I considered Honda but then I thought about it and that's (enduro) what I wanted, and this is definitely better off, it's a better opportunity for my racing."

Ballards Wellard Yamaha boss Geoff Ballard said his team was delighted to secure the services of the talented teenager to join a stable that includes five time world cham- pion and national titleholder Stefan Merriman.

"We are really excited to have Jess on our squad for 2010," he said.

"Jess is the new official Wellard support rider for our team, so with their help we plan to get her guided along and in the right direction for a title chase in the tough world of off road and enduro racing.

"We have been keeping an eye on her for a few years and know how keen and dedicated she is and we believe she has the potential to mix it up with the best senior women in the country, and she could definitely come off with a few surprise wins."