Warrnambool's Ted Collins returning to premier superbike class

It comes after he has been racing in the supersport 600 category in recent years.

The last time the 22-year-old raced a superbike was in 2019.

"I'm riding for a team run by my dad and we've purchased a new Yamaha R1 superbike," he said.

"So we're going to compete in the Australian Superbike Championship on that next year.

"We've just been trying to get everything in place to be able to compete next year.

"To be able to do it, we're obviously looking for a lot of sponsorship and stuff to make it happen.

"But I think my previous results show that I have the potential to be able to do it.

"We've had a couple of years off now because of COVID but I definitely want to get back now things are going back to normal and have another go."

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Collins, who rides for the self-funded JC Motorsports, said the pandemic had limited his opportunity to compete.

"There's basically been no racing and the little bits of racing that have been happening, it's been pretty hard to be able to turn up to the races with a competitive package because we haven't been able to ride," he said.

"We haven't been able to do any testing and we've just been stuck at home."

He did get to ride in the supersport 600 at the first round of state titles earlier this year.

"It was my first race for a really long time," he said.

"And we managed to come away with two second places and a win which was pretty positive for me because we'd been away from the track for a while."

"And then we made the decision to step back up to the superbike class, but there hasn't been a whole lot happening since then just because of COVID and everything but I think now everything's going to start running again."

The talented rider said JC Motorsports was trying to gain more sponsorship for the expensive endeavour.

"It's quite hard in Australia to be able to get a good ride with another team and the cost of that is massive," he said.

"Our best option is to do it ourselves and we already have some really good help from other people to be able to make it happen.

"But we're still looking for that extra support to be able to make it through the year."

Collins' partner, Talya Relph, is a former Australian Supersport 300cc front runner.

She's keen to support him on the circuit while pursuing her own work and putting energy toward their new South West Track Days program at Warrnambool Kart Club's Lake Gillear track.

"With Ted racing in the Australian Superbike Championship it's quite a costly thing to do and probably not something we can afford to have two of us do unless we get some seriously big sponsors on board," she said.

"So looking to next year, I might do a few rounds here and there, probably in the Victorian State Championship as well just to keep myself on a bike but the fact I get to ride on the go kart track every single Wednesday is enough adrenaline for me at the moment."

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