Warrnambool rider Tayla Relph hopes to challenge for a top-five finish in her long-awaited superbikes return.
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Relph, 26, will be back on the grid for the first time in more than three years during the final round of the 2023 Australian Superbikes Championship at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia on Saturday, December 1.
She will contest the Supersport 300cc category on her Yamaha R3 while partner Ted Collins will fight out the final round of the Superbikes championships for team Livson Racing.
Relph's last appearance in the ASBK championships was in January 2020 ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She has remained immersed in the sport, building up her business TAYCO Creative - a marketing and social media management business geared toward motorsport athletes.
She will hand work duties to an employee on Saturday as she focuses on racing.
"Racing is one of those things, you can't go cold turkey and can't go racing your whole entire life and then stop suddenly," Relph told The Standard.
"I've been saying for the last two years, 'I really want to race in ASBK again'.
A desire to return during the final round of the 2022 season was halted due to work commitments.
"I've been gutted all year that I wasn't able to race last year so as the opportunity came up to race this final round, I've gone all in," she said.
"Being around the track for the past three years and not physically racing in the championship, it's eaten away at me every single time I go out to each round working.
"I can't help but look at all the times from the Supersport 300 category and knowing my times, my fastest times at these race tracks, have been fast enough to still be at the front.
"I'm super excited to be back."
A successful test day at the The Bend earlier this month gave Relph the confidence to know she could contend. And while she would love to vie for a podium finish, she remains realistic with her expectations.
"My times were actually fairly quick, definitely a top-five position would be realistic for me and a really exciting thing," she said.
Relph has enjoyed the chance to train alongside Collins in the lead up to her return.
Collins sits eighth overall heading into the final round of Superbikes championships after rejoining the circuit in 2023 with Livson Racing after his own three-year hiatus.
"It's been great to go to BFT Warrnambool and train together and both having that same goal in mind, being as fit as possible, as strong as possible and as competitive as possible," Relph said.
"Instead of him doing all the late night training, we've been able to do it together and we're also very competitive... we're always making sure we go just as hard as one another."
Relph believed Collins was in a good position to finish the season with a strong final round.
"He's had a very competitive year and he's only gone from strength to strength every single round," she said.
"He had a really good test at The Bend Motorsport Park a few weeks ago, he lapped the fastest he's ever gone around there on a superbike by quite some seconds.
"It looks like it will be a really good weekend for both of us and hopefully we can do Warrnambool proud."
Meg Saultry
Sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard, with a strong interest in Australian rules football, basketball and women in sport.
Sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard, with a strong interest in Australian rules football, basketball and women in sport.
