Australian rider Tayla Relph and her crew chief Ted Collins are taking on the WorldWCR championship for the third consecutive year. Teammates on track, what sets them apart from the rest of the grid is that they are also teammates in life, the couple having wed earlier this year.
Tayla and Ted met in the race paddock as children, both competing in junior ASBK classes. As Tayla puts it, ‘Don’t ask which of us is faster, because you’ll get two different answers! We knew each other but didn’t talk too much when we were younger, but things changed in 2017 when Ted won the Australian Supersport 600 championship… I saw him in a new light and the rest is history!’
Their bond was such that, when Tayla travelled to Europe to race in the 2024 WorldWCR championship, Ted was quick to join her on the adventure.
A learning process…
Ted: “My only track experience was as a racer, but when we came to WorldWCR in 2024 Tayla didn’t have a crew chief, so I figured I’d do it! We already had a business together, but this is different. As crew chief, my job is to understand what the rider needs and how they react. I thought I knew how Tayla operated, but it actually took me longer to understand her as a rider than it probably would any other rider.”
Tayla: “During our first year in the championship, we didn’t know how to work together. As my crew chief, Ted essentially has to tell me everything I’m doing wrong and there are not many men that can get away with doing that for an entire weekend in a relationship! I’d say we’ve taken a big step professionally in the last 12 months; we realised that, to make this work, we’ve got to put the relationship side of things aside when we’re at the track.”
Ted: “I think we’re pretty good at drawing a line between work and our time at home. I can say what I need to say to Tayla during the day, and we’re then able to leave the track and be ‘normal’ again, even if it’s been a tough day. I think we play our roles at the track quite well and at the end of the day, we’ve learned that it’s okay to chill out, relax and have some fun for a while.”
Ted: “I think the biggest advantage we have is that, while another rider might not see their team between rounds, we are always together, living the dream together in our van. Whether we’re testing or training, it’s always me and Tayla so we’re constantly building this big database of information of what works and what doesn’t. While some riders will see the team maybe ten times during the season, we’re together and going through the process all the time. When we go to kart tracks for example, we’re a similar speed and can push each other, which is fun for me and very useful for Tayla. We go to the track and put a lap time down and just carry on all day until someone goes home upset!”
Tayla: “It’s a bonus that Ted used to be a professional rider back in Australia. He’s gone through the process and knows what it entails to race full-time, and I think that really helped me. When I was younger, I wouldn’t take my training seriously and I never had a crew chief before. It was always just me and dad, whereas Ted had a whole crew of people and understood the training, the nutrition, everything. If it weren’t for Ted and everything he’s done, I don’t think I would be where I am today.”
Ted: “I’ve created a monster. At the start she would say everything with the bike was fine, while now it’s more a case of ‘this isn’t right’ and ‘we need to fix that’… I clearly taught her well!”
More than a team
Tayla: “Ted puts 110% thought and effort into every change he makes on the bike because he knows that even a small mistake can have massive consequences on track. Sometimes he might be nervous to make a big adjustment to the bike because he’s emotionally attached to the result and emotionally attached to the rider in a different way to any other crew chief. But then on the flip side of that, I know he’ll never send me out on track with a bike that’s not perfect.”
Ted: “But the effort we put in applies to our whole team I think, because we’re a small privateer outfit and all our staff are here because they want to be. We’re usually the first ones at the track in the morning and the last ones to leave, because we care and are trying to do our best.”
Tayla: “After a round, we try to have a whole day where we don’t talk bikes and don’t look at the computer or social media, and that’s the way we reconnect as a couple. Some couples couldn’t do what we do, but I think it’s an advantage that Ted used to race, as if I’m down in the dumps or the results aren’t coming, he can see it from a husband’s perspective, but also from a rider’s perspective.”
Strength in support
Ted: “As a rider myself, I know that you want someone who will say the right thing, if you’re feeling nervous on the grid for example. So, I do my best to assess Tayla’s mood and then try to act in a way that will hopefully help.
Obviously before the race, I’ll get nervous. But I can’t show it, because Tayla will be able to tell straight away. There are days when you know it’s going to be a hectic race or maybe the conditions are changing, and you’re going to have to make that last minute decision. I have to act like it’s all under control, managing my emotions in order to manage Tayla’s emotions.”
Tayla: “I appreciate just knowing I have him around me no matter what. I trust everything he does, and I know he’ll never put me in harm’s way. He put his dream of being a professional racer aside so that we could build something bigger together in the women’s world championship. It’s a massive confidence boost, knowing that he believes in me; that has been the fire in my belly that’s kept me going.
I have Crohn’s disease, which put me into temporary retirement in 2019. I was in and out of surgeries and incredibly sick. Fortunately, I’m now 100% in remission, but I do still get flare ups, which are largely stress related. If I have a flare up during a round, I just have to manage it. Both Ted and I know that if I get stressed or nervous, I need to combat it fast, because if it goes too far, it can actually put me out of a race weekend. It’s another element to worry about, but it keeps me accountable. I need to be on top of everything – my nutrition, my stress levels, my nervous system, everything must be perfect for it to work.”
Ted: “There was a track in our hometown that we wanted to use, so we came up with a coaching business plan to show the track owners. We got started and it seemed to work, so we just kept going! Now we run on a lot of different tracks and do 1:1 coaching sessions, and it’s grown to be much more than it was ever meant to be. While we’re in Europe during the racing season, I get a lot of messages asking when I’m coming home!
We soon realised that if you’re trying to teach someone how to ride and their bike’s not set up correctly or their tyre pressures aren’t right, then it won’t work. To really help them, you need to ensure they have the full package around them, so they can focus solely on their riding, and so that’s what we aim to do. Our clients are mainly adults right now, but in future I’d love to work with younger kids too.”
Tayla: “Ted’s a carpenter by trade, but once the coaching began to take off, he realised he might be able to turn it into a full-time job. And since coming to WorldWCR, people in Australia have started to see all the work Ted puts in and how he relates to me over a race weekend. He’s a really good crew chief, and a really good coach. At the end of 2024 we got home and put up some coaching dates at a track that wouldn’t usually sell. Before we knew it, all four dates were sold out. It felt like everyone wanted Ted to come coach them! His goal for 2025 was to become a full-time coach so last year we worked to really build our Full Throttle brand. The dream is now a reality, and Ted hasn’t put on a tool belt for 18 months…”
One unwavering goal…
Ted: “…to win.”
Tayla: “…always to win! And to continue growing what we have. We have a niche, in that not many people in the world are doing what Ted and I are doing right now, as a married couple. We’re starting to make a very good name for ourselves in Australia. I hope in the next few years, we continue to stay true to ourselves. We have an incredible team behind us, and I hope that we never let any negativity dismantle what it is that we’ve built and what we will continue to build.”
Ted: “If we can make a living out of what we’re doing together, because we obviously love it, then that would be mission accomplished.”
