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The first round of the new Women's Circuit Racing World Championship was held at the Misano World Circuit "Marco Simoncelli". A milestone in the history of motorcycling that, in this debut season, involves 25 fierce female riders from 18 different nations. Faces that are more or less well-known from the international motorcycling scene, each with their own personal story to tell.
Just like the one related to Tayla Relph, the 27-year-old Australian rider who's currently on the TAYCO Motorsport team. Tayla's passion for motorcycling blossomed at the tender age of two and a half, when she was so enthralled by a Crusty Demons show that she asked for, and received, as a Christmas present, her first motorcycle: a Yamaha PeeWee 50, which she rode just a few days later, on her third birthday. After taking her first steps in motocross at the age of six, the young Australian took up asphalt racing four years later, participating in her first race when she was only eleven. This was the beginning of her competitive journey, supported by an outstanding coach like Garry McCoy, a key figure in the young Australian rider's career.
"I wasn't very good at motocross, and, when I was about eight or nine years old, I slowly started to lose my passion. Fortunately, Dad knew someone who was involved in the Supermotard who said, 'Why don't you put Tayla on a little go-kart track and put slick tires on the KTM 65' I had at the time? I loved it and quickly fell in love with track racing. Of course, it was a bit more difficult because my family had no background in motor sports, so my dad was learning as much as I was. But I was very lucky because I had the support of Garry McCoy, who used to race for our local club, since he's also from Queensland," Tayla stated. "He came to one of our meetings, saw me racing, and knew I had the talent to do it. I was very, very fast, but only because I wasn't afraid. I really didn't know how to go fast or how to ride a motorcycle safely. All I knew was that I could go fast on the straights and bring speed in corners."
Speaking about her bond with her famous fellow Australian, Relph added,"It was great to have Garry by my side and support me. We spent hours and hours, days and days, together doing one-on-one coaching. I wish I had known then how important that coaching was, but when I was ten or eleven years old, to me, he was just a guy I saw on YouTube doing some pretty cool stuff. That was all I knew. But, yeah, he was very important to me. He gave me all of his racing suits, so that I could use them myself. He also gave me one of his racing helmets. Luckily, we wore the same size. So, for about three years of my Australian Superbike career, I wore Garry McCoy's suits, helmets and everything, not knowing the value of it all!"
Tayla met MotoGP legend Andrea Dovizioso in Misano, where she showed him a drawing on her helmet of her dog, Dovi, which she named after him!
