April 9, 2025 • 58 mins
This ep I’m hanging out with 21-year-old pocket rocket and Aussie road racing prodigy Tara Morrison... and let me tell you, she ain't just riding motorcycles, she’s rewriting the books. Tara's the only female racer in all three national ASBK (Australian Super Bike Championship) classes, taking on the boys and carving up the track like an absolute legend. From her first time knee-down in her mum’s leathers to breaking records (and bones), this girl's grit is next level.
We chat about the sheer physicality of racing, what it's like being a woman in a male-dominated sport, and why falling hard only fuels her fire even more. You’ll hear about her track day evolution, what it takes to compete (a helluva lot), and how one epic win saw her cross the finish line ahead of the 40 blokes, fist in the air and history made.
This one’s for anyone who knows that behind every win is a thousand sacrifices, and the ones who go hardest are usually the ones told they shouldn’t even be there.
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Website: asbk.com.au/rider/tara-morrison/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
She said, it's now never.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I got fighting in my blood.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm tiff. This is Roll with the Punches and we're
turning life's hardest hits into wins. Nobody wants to go
to court, and don't. My friends at test Art Family
Lawyers know that they offer all forms of alternative dispute resolution.
Their team of Melbourne family lawyers have extensive experience in
(00:29):
all areas of family law to facto and same sex couples,
custody and children, family violence and intervention orders, property settlements
and financial agreements. Test Art is in your corner, so
reach out to Mark and the team at www dot
test Artfamilylawyers dot com dot au. Tara Morrison, welcome to
(00:54):
Roll with the Punches.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Thank you, sir, Fanin. Very happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I'm start here, my idol, here, my idol. I'm obsessed already.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I want to be you. No, oh, thank you. That's
very nice. That's cool. I've listened to a few of
your other podcasts and yeah, they sound You've got some
really inspirational people on here, so I'm somewhat surprised, but
very very very happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Voluntier, Yeah mate, I got shout out to Alan Rourke.
I got nudged by him a couple of times articles
of you sent through. He was like, this would be
a good I was like that because I bought a
motorbike last year. I had had a motorbike when I
was seventeen, a road bike, had a few bikes along
the way, and then nothing for eleven years, and then
(01:42):
in a heartbeat, wow, last February, I just all of
a sudden went, ah, I should Why don't I not
have a bike anymore? And then I went and bought
one and it was the best, and so obviously he
knew that connection, and I went all this chick's awesome.
She raised his motorcycles Solute Superstar And how old are you? Tara?
Speaker 3 (02:03):
That's so cool with me, thank you. I'm twenty one,
just turned twenty one. Yeah apart right hand? Well sorry, no,
go ahead.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Go I think you're going to tell me anyway. How
did you get into motorbike riding and racing?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yes, so I started when I was about seventeen. I
started on my first road bike at two fifteen. My
dad bought it for my sweet sixteenth. Actually yeah, good dad,
thank you. But yeah, I had ridden like dirt bikes
a little bit beforehand, but nothing too serious, just for fun,
just a little bit. But then yeah, when I got
(02:38):
my road bike, I started like a little go kart track,
just wearing jeans and like a leather jacket, and my
mum and dad were both there and it was like
my first time riding a road bike. And they stopped
me after a couple of laps. I'm like, what's up?
And they were like, you can't be riding a jeans
You're gonna put some leathers on or something because I
was going going way fast than they expected. I'm like, hell, yeah,
(03:00):
that sounds good, awesome cool. And then my mom and
dad actually met stunt riding. So I've always been brought
up around on motorbikes and everything, and my mom had
letters that I can fit into with knee sliders and everything.
And then I think the next time I went there
in my mum's letters, I started getting my knee downe
and stuff. And then we slowly started going to like
(03:22):
bigger tracks like track days and everything, and then started
doing club racing and then state racing, and now I'm
racing the National Championships, the National road Racing Championships, So
like some people. Also, when I say that I race motorbikes,
I think dirt bikes. Actually it's actually road bikes. So
I'm a bitchmond on like circuit tracks and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeh.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
But yeah, now I race in the National Series ASPK
it's called and I've also been to the Netherlands and
I've been to Spain and I'm hoping to go to
England in a few months. So I've also done some
international racing as well, which is so cool. But yeah,
it's it started so slowly, but once we started, it
rested so quick.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yeah, at what point did you see? I mean, I
guess you started on a track rather than just cruising
around the road, so it was probably a fairly natural progression.
But how like how soon were you like I want
to I want to race pretty quick?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Like I think I was. I think I did like
just like track days for like maybe like five months
after my first time riding a bike. I did have
my l's and I did ride the bike that is
now my actual race bike. I rode that on the road.
But then when I turned seventeen, I yeah, once I
(04:44):
turned seventeen, I just used my car because I needed
to start carrying around engines and track tires and bike
paths and stuff, so I couldn't carry that on the
bike anyway. And then I turned my bike that I
rode on the road into my race bike, and now
I've got about four of those bikes that are all
(05:04):
race bike set up the exact same. I prefer to
spend all my time on the track instead.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, understandably, yea, what is at what point did you
because it's I know, it's an expensive sport, right, yes,
it's a super expensive sport.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
So at one point.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Did you know or feel that you had potential to
chase this or did that matter to you? Are we
going to do it anyway?
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah? Just like I was saying, the progression was so
quick that I almost didn't really have time to think
about it. My parents have been in the race scene
for a while. My dad also owned a motorcycle shop,
so and he's a like fully qualified mechanic and everything,
(05:54):
so at least that part was all covered and he
was teaching me everything. We were doing all the stuff
to my bike just to a us just ourselves, but
also like he knew lots of people already, like Davo
Johnson who races, the Ala Man t T Yeah, the
biggest circuit racing in the world, the most dangerous as well.
But he's been my coach since like go cut days
(06:16):
and he still coaches me to this day. And you know,
he knew people like Lea by Day who also raced
like primarily in Europe and everything, like he did track
days as well. When I went there and they coached me,
and then yeah, that's how that slow progression, well quick
progression actually should like to say, happened just being coached
(06:38):
by him mainly and having that competitive racing spirit I
think as well helps a lot. Just wanting to win
and then the urge to want to win makes you
go faster. And people like to say a little bit
of like natural talent, like it is in my blood
a little bit I think as well, you know, growing
(06:59):
up around it myself, going to the races, watching it
on a TV every weekend. Yeah, kind of. I don't
want to say it came naturally. It's a lot of
hard work, but at the beginning it did, and gods
of interest and people quickly started following my racing career,
and yeah, I just really agree to love it and
(07:20):
wanted to take it as far as I can. And
even when people ask me now, they're like, what is
the end goal you want of racing? Like what do
you want to end up racing in? I just want
to keep going and going and going and to see
how far I can go. Pretty much that's the that's
the goal, just to go as far as I possibly can.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I love that. What is what in terms of training
for racing? What does that look like? Is there any
physical training that you do or is it all on
the track?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
No? Yeah, definitely got to physical training. That's alsort of
the misconception about racing is people in motorsport. I think
that some people don't think it requires as much physical
you know, energy as like other like all sports something
like that. But it does just as much. Because I
race against the boys in the ASBK racing we have here,
(08:16):
there's no segregation to the boys and girls race against
each other. Yep. And at the moment, I'm the only
female entrant in the three classes the super sport three
hundred and six hundred zuperbikes. Really yeah, I'm the only
entrants to enter. Yeah, thank you, But yeah, in again
(08:36):
and dirt racing and stuff, they have girls and guys classes,
but here in Australia in road racing, because I'm like
one of the only ones, we don't have enough girls
to make it our own separate class. We race against
the boys. Yeah. You know, there's a couple of female
races around Australia that race in the state championships of
(08:56):
each state around Australia, but there's just not an for
us girls in Australia to make a different separate race.
So I'm racing against them. Obviously, it's easier for guys
that have a bit more like endurance and stamina. It's
also easier for them to have, you know, grow muscle
and everything. Yeah, so I've been talking to like a
(09:17):
nutritionists at the moment. Name's Emma had simpler health. She's
been help.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Shouted out to Emma.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Shout out to Emma. Yeah, been helping out heaps with
just like you know, diets on race weekends and out
of race weekends. And I do CrossFit as well. My
partner and I do that together, all endurance, you know,
one rep max reps as well, just to grow muscle
but also stamina. And it's like you're working out but
(09:45):
with a leather suit on. So motorcycle races. When I
come back in, I'm like red as a tomato, dripping
with sweat. Like it's really hard work on the body.
And because your mind is also working over time to
think of every like you know, every corner and every
time you overtake someone, it's really mentally training as well.
(10:05):
So yeah, that you're always under that pressure physically but
also mentally, which wears you physically. So yeah, it's a lot.
It's a lot so training and stuff. I yeah, I
take it really seriously. I'm always doing CrossFit and everything,
and I'm on the motorbike every single weekend, whether that's
racing around Australia, testing at new tracks around Australia, doing
(10:30):
state titles, doing track days, trying out different bikes, trying
out different settings. Yeah, I'm always on the bike, always, always.
It's all about seat time as well. So however much
you get to be on that bike, is how good
you're going to end up being? I reckon?
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Oh yeah, oh mate, the envy. I've twice in my
life I've done a track day. Once was in around
twenty and eleven. Yeah, I was dating a racer and
for our first anniversary he gave me a track date.
I hadn't touched the bike for three years then.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
So he sounds like it was more for him than
It was.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
The second best day of my life. And I put
that just above my very first boxing fight, which was
the most incredible experience. So this came very close second
to that. And do you mind.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Where did you do it? What track were you at?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
At Broadford?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, yep, yeah, on one of his mates six hundred ninjas.
It was known to be one of the fastest six
hundred on the track. How how fast I went? But
I remember wobbling my way out of the gates. Oh,
And his mate goes, dude, is she gonna be all
right on that question? And I came back in after
(11:46):
session one and just rife with adrenaline, but just looked
at them and went, I don't know how you do this.
I just remember because there was so much tension in
my body because I just hadn't been riding, and there
was so much redlin that my arms and legs. I
just went, this is so physic I don't think I
can go out again. This is so physically draining. I'm sore,
(12:08):
it hurts, I'm topped, like doms worse than the gym
has ever done. But the next session, so it was
more relaxed, was better than that. But yeah, I just
could not believe the physicality of the sport.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Yeah it is. It is really physical. You know. That bike.
I don't know if you had a six three six
that the newer six hundred, the Kawazarki ones, but they're
a really heavy bike and they've also got a lot
of power as well. I raised a Kawazarki Ninja four
hundred and I've just started racing a Yamaha R seven
(12:44):
this year as well. My Ninja's got about forty five
horse power and it's about one hundred and fifty kilos,
whereas the R seven that I've just started racing this year,
it's a bigger bike with about sixty five horse power
at about one hundred and sixty five kilos and I'm
only fifty five kilos so kilo me, you know, throwing
(13:07):
around it on one hundred and sixty five kilo machine
underneath me, it is pretty intense, like, you know, trying
to steer it in and yeah, you know, get the
bike to where you want it and handle the power
of it too. But a six hundred that's no mean
feet that would have been. That's not the easiest bike
to ride it, but especially for your first track day.
So that's pretty cool mate.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
There was nothing to be seized at at all.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
No, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
It was almost the same. The first thing I did
when I bought a bike last year was I booked
what I really didn't process this well to I bought
what was advertised as a kind of a lady's road
ride day. Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm like, oh, I'm so
(13:54):
out of condition of riding that I really just I
need I need to be taught again. I need to
remember that everything I'm doing innately is actually correct in
controlling this bike. So I booked this day ladies ride day,
and then as it approaches, I'm like, tip, this is
this is a track day at Broadford again, and you
remember that track day And I was so terrified. The
(14:17):
only reason I went is because I could remember how
great the day was. But I've never been so scared.
I had arrived there, I got I made a friend
and made them come with me because it was all
my friends with bikes and dudes. Yeah, so I made
a friend. Yep, trying again, but so wonderful.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Fun and the girls who have in the community are excellent.
Like all the girls who ride you know, who do
track days and racing and stuff around Australia are just
the best. Like obviously, you know, a girl rider obviously
has an instant connection with another girl rider because there's
not many of us, so it's almost default mates. Yeah,
but yeah, the community is great. We I just want
(15:00):
to try to influence girls to start racing because that
there's so many girls who are so great at doing
like you know, on their bike, gone around the track,
doing track days and stuff. But to make that progression
to doing track days to actually go to your first
like club race or state race is a huge jump.
(15:22):
But I really want to get girls into racing because
the increase of girls like getting on the bike and
going to the track is like growing heaps. I would
just love to see more girls racing. That would be
the dream country for me. That'd be really really cool.
But back to Broadford ticking, I think I think Victoria
(15:42):
has the best and the worst track in Australia really yep,
and Broadford is definitely on the worst end in my
because that's corner where everyone high sights yea, the crash
corner they call it. If you have to go to
a track and there's got a corner called crash corner,
(16:03):
I'm not racing this track.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
The worst thing yeah, well someone come off in the
first session about ten minutes in. It was like someone's
someone's turfs already. The worst thing is since that day,
I've done a bit of research on my bike. I
bought it just an mt O seven. It's naked bike,
right the yeah, the high output one. So so it's good.
It's a good quick bike. It's not the learner model,
(16:27):
which as I was as I was signing the papers
for that, the BUK selling it to me was like,
you know, this is not a learner model, because I
told him I hadn't touched the bike for eleven years.
I rode out there thinking I'm going to I'm going
to flip this as soon as I get on the highway.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
No, don't think like that. I don't think like that.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
But I've read since I've been reading about the suspension
on them, and people just they're like, the suspensions terrible,
you'd never do a track on it, throw you off.
And now I'm ter take it to the track again.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
No, that's not aloney, that's that's bullshit. That's not true
at all.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
No, Hey, you talk to me about like I'm interested in.
I guess that given the physicality of it and a
female racing males, what's the advantage and what's the cost?
So I imagine power to weight. Being lighter, I am
imagining is an advantage, but having strength is an advantage.
(17:23):
What's important.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I was gonna say, funny you say that technique because
the year I started in the ASBK they started a
minimum weight limit. Oh so about a kilo is about
like half a horsepower worth of horsepower obviously, So yeah,
being light would be an advantage. But because we have
(17:45):
to meet a minimum weight, I have to add a
little bit of weight to my bike. So you have
a minimum bike weight and then you have a minimum
bike end right awight. Because I'm such a light rider
compared to the other, like twenty one twenty year old
boys I'm racing against, that I have to add weight
to my bike. Some of the guys I race against
(18:07):
as well are actually like a little bit younger or
a little bit lighter than me as well, so they
would have to add weight as well. But the thing
about the minimum weight limit is to make it all equal.
But I'm someone who's a little bit lighter than the
guy who's racing against me. But my bike ultimately is
heavier because I've had to add the weight to my bike,
(18:28):
whereas his bike's a little bit lighter than mine because
he is heavier. So stronger, heavier dude is dealing with
a lighter bike, whereas me, a lighter check is dealing
with a heavier bike.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Would it make a difference, Well, what difference would it
make putting the weight on the bike or somehow putting
it on the rider? Could you put the weights on
you and change the dynamics of riding in that way? Nah?
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I know, we just pop the weight under the seat.
That is the best way that we've found the balance
of the bike to be, you know, really nice. Yeah, No,
it's like do they do that in jockey? Is that
what horse ridders do? They add the weight to themselves,
don't they? Is that right?
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Actually I'm not actually sure, but no we don't.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I don't think you're allowed to add the weight to yourself.
But that would also like hold you down. You'd prefer
the bike to be heavyer underneath you, but no, so yeah,
we add the weight to our bikes instead. But yeah,
there's lots of there's lots and lots of rules like
that that you have to meet. But obviously our bikes
are all got like aftermarket suspensions front of hawks and
(19:37):
the rear shaker like a different brand than stock as well.
And we have like specific racing foot pegs and specific
racing handlebars like clip ons we call them. We also
have like mufflers that they all give output of different
horsepower too, So it's all it's all the little things
that add up to make a bike a race bike.
(19:59):
But then have to make it fair because in the
Super Sport three hundred, they raise Kawazaki Ninja four hundreds
like I do, or they raise the R threes so
my bike. Also, the computer inside the bike has to
be restricted, so the Yamaha R threes, which have a
three two one cc engine, can keep up with the
Ninja four hundred, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(20:21):
and then the R threes are allowed to fall exhaust
system whereas the Ninjas aren't, but they're made that they're
equals now. But yeah, there's all little knicks and tricks
like that, to make the bike as you know, as
fast as you can, Like one horse power makes a
big difference on the little bikes. So yeah, my bike
is pristine thanks to my dad and my boyfriend's work
(20:45):
and everything because he helps out too. So yeah, there's
all the little things to add up to make it
the best you can.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
How do you like? How did you choose which bike
you wanted to ride?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah? Since the beginning, we like, we've been a Kawazarki
family quackers.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
My first bike was a Kawazaki to fifty. Thanks.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah me too, Yeah, me too, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
well my first road bike was but yeah, that's so cool.
But yeah I had a like an Ininja two fifty,
and then I jumped to an Injo of four hundred.
But yeah, we think that we think the Ninja four
hundreds are a bit cooler and better than the R three.
But now I've got an R seven, so I'm racing
Yamaha anyway as well. But no, no, I love both
(21:27):
the excuse me, no, I love both the brands. But yeah,
just probably a bit a bit more primarily of a
quacker family. But my first bike was a Pee Wee fifty,
which is a little Yamaha. My parents bought that bike
before for myself, before I think I was born, so
I think it was next to my cot waiting for
my arrival after the hospital.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Best parents ever.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Yeah, oh they what, They're wicked. They're very very cool. Yeah,
very lucky to have them.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, oh that's awesome. Tell me more about what it's
like to be competing at a high level in a
male dominated sport. I imagine that even just psychologically that
adds weight.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah, yeah, it does. Yeah, it's a little bit. It's
a bit stressful obviously, but I like to take away
from it hopefully being out a like inspire other girls
that you can do what the boys are doing. It's
not just a boys sport, you know, girls doing it.
The new Women's World Championship that they race in Europe
(22:35):
that started last year, you know, that's an all girls
series that runs alongside the World Superbikes. It's only women
racing in it. So yeah, the introduction of women into
racing is getting much better. But yeah, just it's you know,
it's always been a bit of a boys club. Racing.
(22:56):
Motorsports has always been a boys' sport, but it's yeah,
it's good to try to break that barrier and let girls,
you know, feel like they belong at the track as well. Yeah,
it's obviously lots of good fun on everything, and yeah,
(23:16):
mentally it's a bit tricky on you sometimes when you
know that you're like the only girl on the grid.
Sometimes it's a bit stressful, but you know, you just
got to pop your helmet on and you know, just
do the best you can do. At the end of
the day, it's just your self versut yourself out there,
and that's how I like to see it is. I
(23:37):
just want to do better than myself from the last
time I wrote out, and I try not to think about,
you know, the boys and girl thing too much. But obviously,
yeah it's good to be somewhat of a role model
or something, hopefully to other girls out there who want
to get into it. But yeah, I just tried to
(23:59):
think of about it. I just put my head down,
work and do what I got to do. I guess.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I love it. Do you do you do much road
riding as well? Or you like track only?
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Track only? No, I don't even have my license for
the road.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
So many Why are racers like that? Why don't races
like the.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Road the track. The track is so safe. Like it's
also another thing is if you're if you like have
been thinking about getting a bike or thinking about doing
a track day on your bike, the track is so
so so safe.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
There's like always you know, paramedic paramedics right there if
you need them. The track is clean, there's marshals out
there who can help you. You know, they've got flags
telling you there's a bloody pebble on the track, you know,
just be careful here or anything like that. So yeah,
the track is really really safe. Sometimes I've stubbed my
toe and I'm like, I wish I would just like
(24:53):
low side my bike instead. That hurts way less than
stubbing my toe on this ball right now. It's ridiculous.
But you know, like I had a little low side.
It looks a bit scary, but it's yeah, you're so safe.
The gear and the technology and everything that we have
now is just top notch. So yeah, I feel really
I feel quite safe on the track in all my gear,
and you know, I'm smart and calculated and stuff. So
(25:16):
there obviously a bit of risk to it, especially when
you're racing. There's a bit of risk and I've definitely
had my fair share of injuries. But you know, when
you're on the track doing a track day, it's it's
super safe. Yeah, yeah, it's all good. But yeah, yeah,
I had a few injuries on when I'm racing though.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, tell us about the first time you've turfed it.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yeah, well, oh, I can't even remember. I think the
first time I stacked it was in my mum's leathers,
so mum, so I stuffed those up for her when
I was before I got even my own leathers. But
you know, since then, I've probably stacked it so many
times I couldn't even count, but I've both my collar
(26:00):
bones've been played it up. So yeah, I got cute
scars on my shoulders. And my most recent stack was
I broke my pelvis in half as well. Yeah I
had a high side, yeah, high side and broke my pelvis.
I had racing the next day as well. It was
(26:23):
the first race of the three races for the weekend,
and I was like, no, no, no, I haven't broken it.
Just let me like chill out here for a bit.
Hurts a bit, but I haven't broken anything. Like I
know how it feels to break it. Bye, like no, no,
I'm all good. And they're like, nah, we think you
have We're pretty sure you've broken something. And I'm like no, no,
I've got racing tomorrow. Just like I'll put some mice
on it. She'll be right for tomorrow now I do
(26:44):
on the green whistle or anything. And I'm like nah, noah,
And then yeah, they forced me to go to the
hospital and I was like, yeah, I got okay. And
I went there and they yeah, I did an X
ray and there was a crack right through the middle
and they were like, yeah, you've broken it. I'm like, oh, bugger.
So I was out for a little while. Last year
(27:04):
in the ASBK, I came ninth from the championship. I
missed round two due to breaking my collar bone, and
then I missed I think round five you'd breaking my pelvist.
But this year we've had two rounds. I just came
back from Sydney yesterday, so we've had two rounds of
the ASBK already and I'm second in the championship at
(27:26):
the moment. So yeah, much better start this year than
last year. I'm still in one piece, so that's good far.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Like okay, So after a couple of big crashes where
you're getting you know, broken collar bones and broken pelvis
is nothing to be sneezed at. Like, what's it like
getting back on the bike.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
It's yeah, it's a bit. It was a bit slow.
You want to get out way quicker than what people
recommend to here. But I've usually harped what the doctors
have said to me to be I've halved that time
because I just want to. I want to get back
out again. I want to. It stucks being at home
(28:07):
sitting on the couch just you know, and everyone else
is writing and racing and it's just it's so hard
to be at home not doing what you love. And
then yeah, you just get back out again, and it
just comes as a territory. You just you know, it's
something that you're thinking about, Like it's not something that
you think about, but it's something that you're aware that
(28:28):
could happen, and it's just the risk you take. But
it's really easy to take that risk when you just
love the sports so so much. And it's on the
rare occasion too that you hurt yourself even at all.
But yeah, it's just it's perseverance, it's courage, brave, bravery.
(28:50):
I guess, you know, you just pick yourself back up
and go out again. One of my first experiences writing,
I did speedway when I was about five years old,
and it's just like it's just a little dirt track
that you just go around around. When I was about
five or four, racing against the boys again and the
kids would the kids would have a stack and their dad,
(29:13):
their dads would jump over the barrier and help them
pick him back up and then have a cry or whatever,
and then they come back into the pits. They wouldn't
get back on their bike. And then I remember once
probably the biggest life lesson that I think my dad
ever taught me was I had a stack and then
you know, I had to cry on the track and
I was looking at my dad like come on, jump
over the fence and come help me, and he's like,
(29:34):
nap helping. You got to pick it up yourself and
do yourself, so like pick it up, pick it up,
And all the dads are looking at him, what the heck?
And I was like, oh, okay, I picked it up,
and I remember still crying in my helmet. He's like,
finish the race, and I was just crying going around
the track, crying in my helmet. But I went around
the track and I finished the race and I came back.
(29:54):
There wasn't a scratch on me, and you know, and
he's like, see, you did it. You stucked it and
you got back up. You pick your bike up yourself.
You could do it yourself, you know, and you finish
the race and you've got the points and everything. And
that was a really big lesson that you just I
don't know, you just have to pick yourself back up
and keep going. You can't stop.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
It's actually really smart. Yeah, you think.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
About at the time, I was like, oh Dad, you suck.
But now this is shape. Thanks a lot, But now
I'm really grateful for it. You know. I learned that
lesson when I was like four instead of way later
in life, that yeah, you got to pick yourself back up.
And that's what I did. And now it's just my
instant reaction that anytime I have a stack on the bike,
even if it's a track day or a race, I
(30:40):
sprint over to it and I try my best, you know,
I pick it up and I keep going. Yeah, yeah,
it's got to get it done. Just yeah, it's good.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
But the things we go through, like those that experience
lives in your body and so if if you walk
away from it, you're kind of pressing pause on that,
that's going to wait till you You're going to have
a reaction when you get back on the bike, because
you're gonna have this kind of body memory of like, oh, yeah,
I stacked it. It's gonna be terrifying.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
Yeah, I mean I kind of love that. Yeah, you
would definitely feel that with boxing and stuff like that, like,
oh but it's repetitive. But in that moment, you have
to keep you know, picking yourself back up that I
could I could not imagine that that'd be really hard.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Well, that's as you've been talking. I've been reflecting on
exactly that relationship with hard and how like we're talking.
We think people might be listening thinking, oh, you're talking
about this thing that is not even relevant to me,
But it is right because what you're experiencing in terms
of adrenaline and courage and doing hard things is reflected
(31:45):
in your life. When you like my boxing coach used
to always push and push and push me and be like,
I'm not training you for the fight, I'm training you
for life. If you can deal with this, then there's
nothing this life can throw it that you can't deal.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
With exactly exactly. And I yeah, I think motorcycle racing
as well has that aspect to it. It almost takes
so much from you that it pushes you to your
absolute limit all the time, and then it gives you
something because it was so hard to get there, so
(32:23):
expensive and tiring and long and draining, and it majeor
sore trying to get there, and you know all the
compromise that everyone around you has to make for you
to live your dream, and then to have one moment,
you know, it just it fuels you for the next year.
Ioud at the first round this year, I won the
(32:44):
opening race and the supersport three hundred. I was the
first first female to ever win a supersport three hundred
race in the national road racing category. So I beat
forty guys. I was forty one entrance and I was
the first one across the line. The rest of the
forty boys followed behind me. But yeah, it's just like
(33:04):
to get even to get to Victoria, you know, to
ten hour drive, you gotta sell your pitch hed You've
got to get the bikes ready beforehand, you've got to
pay for ties, you you know, do the weekend. It's hard,
it's grueling, it's you know, hard work, and then you
just you get past the finish line in first and
you're like, oh, that's what it's all for, and it's
just one day and then it's over there. It just
(33:27):
it just keeps you going. You just it's addicting. You're
just always chasing that feeling again, and you get it
because you're so dedicated to it that it comes like
hard work actually does pay off, it really does. So yeah,
it's very rewarding to see in racing. And yeah, like
(33:47):
when when people see like motorbike races, win a race,
they're like they think it's great and stuff like that,
but for the race, so it's just you have no
idea like how much work they had to do to
get there. And with you as well with boxing and
things just sport in general. Just like the person who
wins sees the sacrifices, whereas not many other people do.
(34:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Yeah, it's one of the first lessons I often talk
about is when I reflect back and I think of
my first fight, which was a twelve week corporate boxing challenge,
like I was, WHOA, You're already hero, Like, oh yeah,
I'll do that twelve weeks, lady in the ring. It's insane.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
And I went through that, and it was the day
before where the nerves just I felt sick and I said,
I said out to my mum, I said, I will
never ever do this or anything like this again, because
nothing in the whole world could ever be worth how
I feel today, like I couldn't even describe it. And
then I did the fight like I did it anyway,
(34:50):
and I stood outside the ring afterwards, watching other fights
and just going this is life, like it takes twelve
twelve weeks, which isn't much really in real life it's
a lot more. But for me it was this the
first time I went for twelve weeks, I changed everything.
I did the hard thing. I battled my own in
a critique. I walked to the gym every day I
(35:11):
was tired. I didn't drink alcohol like eight different. I
didn't socialized when I wanted to socialize. I trained every
single f and day. I got punched in the face
and punching the face and punching the face and punched
the face and then it was over in four and
a half minutes and the outcome meant really meant nothing
to anyone else but me, And I was like, oh,
this is everything in life, Like, if you have a goal,
(35:34):
that's the amount of work and sacrifice versus the moment
of it happening, And that's how much it needs to
mean to you exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Yeah, you're You're so right. I completely agree with you there,
it's yeah. And then you're spending so much time, every
minute of every day leading up to it, and then
you know, like either You've got one four and a
half minute fight or I've got like one fifteen minute
race and it all comes down onto that. It's just
so I understand that how you felt before your fire
(36:04):
as well, because I feel very civiler before a race.
And my Mum's always like, it's just excitement, like you're
getting it confused with being nervous. You're not nervous, You're
just excited. I'm like, no, no, I'm nervous, thanks my
love your guys, but no I feel sick.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Yeah, it's like, oh, I'm good. Then this wave of
emotion you're like, oh.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
God, it makes you It makes you realize how capable
you are, and then how you have that feeling in
your gut, in your throat, in your head and you
do it anyway.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Yeah, but then then the realization that you, Tara, cannot
perform the way you need to physically without that chemical
reaction happening in your body.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
You need the adrenaline in order to have the reaction
time improve, and.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
You just have to focus everything onto racing and be like,
this is what this is for and and yeah, yeah,
I'm not too sure if it's the same with boxing,
but for racing, like if you're not one hundred percent
in oh, yeah, you can't make it. You have to
be one hundred and ten percent dedicated, yeah, or it's
(37:15):
a twenty four to seven sport. Like even though we're
only racing on the weekends, it's like the training and
the mental side of it beforehand, and the getting the
bikes ready, working on them and even working to save
up money to pay for the tires for the racing.
It's like every single thing I do in my life
is around racing. Absolutely everything, every single decision I make
(37:39):
is around it, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Do you feel, how do I want to ask it, like,
are you aware now that of the fact that you
are already etched in history? Ah, jeez, you didn't know
if if you hadn't worked that out. Sorry to put
(38:03):
that all of that on you now.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
No, I mean no, yeah, I yeah, I'm aware. Yeah. Sorry,
just put a massive smile on my face. But yeah, no,
I'm aware, And I'm just I want to set more records.
I want to do more things. I want my name
to be out there. I want people to know me.
(38:26):
I want to be someone's like Anna Grasco or Valentino
Rossi or does someone that they look up to and
then you know, they get into it themselves because they've
heard of me, and and yeah, and I want to
set those records for myself and you know, for my
own career as well as you know, all other like
kids and girls or races out there. But yeah, yeah,
(38:51):
I'm aware of it, and I want to I want
to set more records. I want to be the first
woman to win a national champion in chips. So I'm
in the right direction right now. But there's about forty
three of us on a leaderboard and I'm second, And yeah,
I want to be the first female to win an
ASVK championship. So yeah, just to have those massive goals
(39:15):
is what I need. And you just got to even
if you like sometimes don't believe in yourself, you just
got to set the goal and just just do as
much as you can. Just how hard you want it,
how bad you want it, and stuff like that, you
just got to chase it as much as you can
make it happen all over again, keep going on to
(39:36):
the next goal and the next goal, the next goal,
and always have something in front of you, which there's
no shortage of that in racing. There's always something you
can improve on, you know. So that's also another good
for another good thing about my life as well, that
I always feel like I'm chasing something. I'm not stationary.
I'm always moving forward, and I'm really grateful for that
(39:58):
in my racing career and that in my life as well.
It's really good.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Every time you mentioned the being second on the leaderboard
or you give me a visual of winning against forty
other blokes, I get goosebumps all to my body. Like
the level of excitement I have for that is almost
too much for me to stand right now.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
Thank you, oh man, you have no idea. Like there's
there's a photo the race, the photo finish they called it.
They posted it on the ASBK Facebook and it's me
like celebrating with my arm like humping up and I'm
looking behind me at the guys and they're like neck
and neck, and I'm like a bike length in front
of them, and I'll just you know, going around, you know,
(40:45):
standing taking a moment of fame. You're like ten minutes
of fame and riding around the track and everyone's clapping
for you, and you're trying to like wras up the
crowd and you know, wave it and high fiving all
the marshals to coming in part Fermey and you know,
just that little moment of fame. It sounds so silly,
but yeah it was. It was really surreal. I came
(41:09):
a third for that that round overall, which put me
third in the championship, and then this last round at
Sydney Motorsport Park the weekend just gone, I'm not as strong.
That's what I was talking about in Victoria, that Victoria
has the best and worst track. So Philip Island, the
track that I absolutely love is the best there. And
(41:31):
then Broadford my favorite but Philip Barnes my favorite in Australia,
and then Sidney Motorsport Park this weekend is yeah, I
haven't been there very much, so I you know, you
have to be a little bit realistic about it. I'm like, oh,
I might be like dropped down a position or two,
but to actually go up a position and come second
(41:52):
now in the champion second championship now is really good feeling.
I've got five more rounds left, so I've got two
more in Queensland, got one more in Sydney again, and
then we're going back to Philip Island and then the
last race of the year in November is back home
for the finale at Taylor Bend in South Australia. So
(42:12):
it's a long it's a long championship. You're just going
to stay consistent and steady, level headed, and you know,
think about the championship. You can you can definitely you
can't win a championship in a round, but you can
definitely lose one. So consistency is key and that's what
I'm looking at overall. You know.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
What, I guess different types of riders are suited to
different types of tracks, Is that right? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (42:40):
I think so philip Island's a really fast and smooth track. Yeah,
I yeah, I have no trouble with fifth get corners,
like holding it flat. Holding it flat's really easy. But
then when I had to start using my brakes, I'm like, wow, bugger.
But yeah, fast tracks I really like. I just like
(43:03):
having like having it flat out all the time. That's
my style for sure. And Philippine is also a very smooth,
flowy track, which I like as well. But then there's
other tracks on the calendar that might be a bit
more aggressive, like more sharp turn corners or hard breaking
or something like that, which I also like. But my
(43:26):
definite strong point is definitely fast and flowy tracks. I
have a need for speed, I guess. But yeah, I've
been to Asen, which is the Cathedral of Speed. That
was my first international race. I raced over there with
a team that also had a team in the World
Supersport three hundred Championships, So I learned heaps there, you know,
(43:48):
racing that My teammates were people who racing the world
and stuff, and I think that's another spot where it
kickstarted my career and made me jump to the next
level as well, because they raced the same bikes as me,
And yeah, I had lots of fun at that track
and would absolutely love to go back and race there
with all the added experience and knowledge that I have
(44:09):
on a bike now and go back to that track.
But yeah, that was a beautiful experience, very very fun.
And then yeah, so next year I'm hoping to race
in the Women's World Championship on my R seven. Girls
all round the world from like England, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, everything,
all racing that championship and yeah, I would love to
(44:31):
do that. And the lineup for the tracks that they
have looked like they would be strong tracks to me
as well, and definitely bucket list tracks I would love
to go to. So yeah, that's also a really exciting
endeavor that I have my mindset onto. Yeah, oh I
love that.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
On mindset? Who like, do you manage yours? Do you
specifically work on your mindset? You're thinking?
Speaker 3 (44:58):
Yeah, yeah, definitely. I Again, I speak to Emma a
little bit about that, about the mental side of being,
as she calls it, an elite athlete. I never really
viewed it like that until you know, she started talking
to me about it like that. But yeah, again, Like
(45:19):
what I was saying earlier is that everything I do
I have in mind to my racing, whether that's sleep, eating,
physical training, you know, everything is all in mind with that.
But yeah, I've definitely started like a lookout for like
sports psychologist kind of things, because it is really heavy
(45:41):
on your mind, the kind of sport that we do.
And yeah, I do want to start getting into that
a little bit deeper, but I haven't necessarily as of lately.
But yeah, it's definitely something I'm looking into to take
a bit more seriously as well, to have the final
piece of the puzzle and just make everything about raising. Yeah,
(46:05):
but I've got a really good community around me, you know,
people who help out a lot, and you know, make
it a much easier load on myself. But you know,
when you enjoy it as well, that makes it a
bit easier, a little bit less stressful, and it's going
to make it a fun experience for yourself. And yeah,
just trying to have some fun at the same time
as well.
Speaker 1 (46:24):
So yeah, I did a late last year or mid
last year, I Did you love this episode on the
show Trying to Find the Number of It Mind Faith
Episode seven hundred and ninety three I did with Ben
Felton and Kevin McGee. Do you know those names?
Speaker 3 (46:43):
They sound oh McGhee, yes, yes, that sounds familiar.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Yeah, so McGee, Kevin McGhee or Magoo. He's from Horse
and the Horse and Hurricane. He won the Spanish GP
in nineteen eighties. Nineteen eighty eight, I think, oh wow,
and I think it might have been about two and
Ben Felton and him. He was a navigator. Ben Felton
one or yeah one the Guinness or became the Getness
(47:08):
World Record hold off for the fastest blind man on
a motorcycle. Yeah, it's incredible. They made a documentary. So
I had them on the show. I m seed an
event in a chukull with them there and they had
just insane for a start, insane. I remember Kevin had
(47:28):
had had a stack on his bike and it was
actually and he got a traumatic brain injury and in
when we were at the event, and he was talking
about that, and he'd mentioned to me earlier but hadn't
really you know, just forget to mention these things on
the podcast or in conversation. I'm like he got read
(47:51):
his last rights when he was in hospital, like it was.
It was looking really grim, but yet he was out
of hospital and back ray seeing within something like I
can't remember it was maybe six six months or something,
it was a matter of months, but I remember them
testing his reaction time, and at the time I was
(48:12):
thinking of all of the things that we don't always
think of in terms of what's important for specific sports
and athletic ability, because his reaction time was well above
average for the average person after a traumatic brain injury.
And at the time, I was like, oh, it may
even made me reflect on previously boxing and thinking, oh,
(48:36):
you know, how much training would just be flogging yourself
in the gym as opposed to git. Did I ever
think of how to improve my own reaction time or
you know those small variables that actually, you know, I
was thinking. I was picturing you on Philip Island. Yeah,
just like having the balls to keep the throttle flat
(48:59):
out through corn and I'm like, oh, like that that's
an advantage that a micro second changes a lot in
the race.
Speaker 3 (49:08):
No, it does, it does, but yeah, having that confidence
in yourself you have to be you have to trust
yourself so much. And yes, now that you say that, Ken,
I do know Kevin McGee, my dad would be so
upset with me if I didn't, So no, I do
know Kevin McGee. You raced in the GP with people
(49:30):
that were rainy and stuff like that, so yeah, I
do know of him. Definitely, he's insane. That's crazy that
you had did a podcast and that's so cool. But yeah,
it's all about trust within yourself, confidence in yourself, and
that comes with just riding the bike as much as
(49:51):
you possibly can, you know, almost becoming one with it.
I was talking about that with my mum of the day,
and you know, how the bike operates also has a
lot to do with your team around you. So my
partner and my mum and my dad and my grandpa
Glenn come to the track and Glenn used to race
as well in the ASPK the national championships and won
(50:16):
the championship on the big bikes as well himself. So
having them there with a really high understanding of how
the bike works and operates for someone who's racing it
is really important because I don't have to think about
that as much, or I think about is racing and
then I hop on my bike and it's set up
(50:37):
really nice, and you know, I talked him about it
afterwards saying like, oh, it felt like it could have
a bit more pre load, it felt a bit soft
in the front, or it felt a bit like it
was chattering in the rear, or you know, it was
running really wide, and then they just changed the bike
with the suspension and then when I hop back on
it nine out ten times it feels better. So yeah,
(51:00):
Or like on rails, people say a lot like when
you're riding really well, that like it's on rails and
that's when you know that you and the bike almost
become one. That sounds a bit naugh, but just underneath
you just all you do is thinking about what you
want the bike to do, and it just does it.
That's a really good feeling. And you know, having a
really good team makes it easier on me as well,
(51:22):
who definitely have an idea in what they're doing. Makes
me have a lot more confidence in my bike and myself.
And you know, you have to have a lot of
confidence in your bike as well. And hasn't missed a
beat touch Wood, So yeah, lots of confidence in my team,
bike and myself for sure. Got a good thing going.
Speaker 1 (51:40):
Absolutely, and even just the level of being able to
communicate and understand what you say and what that means
and how that translates to what they do to the
bike and your ability to adjust to the changes. That's
so much science.
Speaker 3 (51:57):
Yeah, it is, it really is. You're like, yeah, we've
got a you know, like a not a graph, but
like a spec sheet. After every single session I do,
we write down every single part about the bike and
what change and even what the track temperature was, and
(52:18):
it's little teeny bits that all go into it to
make it, you know, perfect for you. But yeah, racing
isn't just about how good the rider is. It matters
about how good the bike is, and you know, how
good the support around you is and how much they
know as well. Just recently Steve Martin, he's currently a
(52:43):
commentator in the ASBK, but he used to race in
the World Endurance Championship and stuff like that and in
the World's even and he is like a very big racer.
But he commentates the A's b K and we've formed
a really good relationship and he comes down talks to
us and helps us out with bikes set up. And
(53:06):
you know, my dad was a stunt rider, so he
could ride any bike really well.
Speaker 1 (53:10):
You could just love to be a stunt rider. Can
you get your dad to teach me? That will be the.
Speaker 3 (53:14):
Oh my gosh, he wants to teach me how to
do a WHEELI and I can only do it accidentally,
so but it's so hard. I'm like, how do you
do that? I can get my knee dout super easy.
I don't even think about it. But if I ever
were to think about doing a fricking like a wheel
stand like a wheelie, or putting my legs over the handlebars,
(53:35):
or doing a massive like twelve o'clock stoppy, like, no way,
there's absolutely no chance. I didn't get that gene from him, unfortunately. No,
But yeah, he could just jump on any bike and
just ride it so well. Like I think that's the
difference between like maybe a stunt rider and a racer
a little bit. But at least for me, I'm a
little bit picky, like I need things very specifically and
(53:58):
I don't like change too much. And you know, but
Steve Martin obviously used to race himself, and he knows
how to talk to me really well in that way
that I'm like, yeah, he totally gets it, you know,
And when I say something to him, he understands from
his own experience as well, and how to explain it
to my dad and team a bit better, and how
to change the bike as well, because yeah, there's just
(54:21):
a little language that races speak as well, Like you
sometimes see them on the TV. They're like lang lang lang,
or it's going and it makes complete sense to another
race that everyone else is like, what is she talking about? I?
And that's like what Nah, he gets it, but yeah, nah,
it's yeah, little things that people don't really know. But
(54:44):
we're always changed in the bike, and yeah, make it
a little bit different and you know tiewear and yeah,
everything makes a difference, and there are lots of things
to think about.
Speaker 1 (54:57):
I was just trying to find there's this brilliant female
stunt rider that I follow on Instagram that I want
to send to you, and I can't.
Speaker 3 (55:06):
Oh, I think I know her. She's got she's praying.
Speaker 1 (55:10):
The ninja that's like like a pearlized color one and
a couple of there's a pearl. Yeah, when I will
send it to you, I cannot think of her name.
But you know what was really freaky is when I
opened Instagram to look for it, I thought I'll just
maybe if you'll pop up in my Explore. I open
the Explore panel, which is currently full of comedians because
that's all I've been watching, and all of a sudden,
(55:31):
because of this conversation we're having, it's full of motorcycle racing.
And I was like, yeah, and I haven't been looking
that up. Oh shout out to the algorithm, but I
will find that awesome stunt rider. Can you tell my
listeners where they can follow you, find you, watch you,
(55:53):
anything you want to promote, any shout out that you
want to do.
Speaker 3 (55:56):
Yes, please, thank you. Yeah, I'm on Instagram, book, and YouTube.
Ti Morrison Racing on Instagram, Ti Morrison Racing ninety five
on Facebook, and Time Morrison Racing ninety five on YouTube.
My YouTube channel, I make like.
Speaker 4 (56:14):
Behind the scene videos and videos of racing and so
you can see all what that's about and I explain
it and you guys can get an understanding of.
Speaker 3 (56:26):
How it works at the national level and everything. But yeah,
I've a YouTube video that I've started. The YouTube channel
that I've started has been one of the best decisions ever.
I absolutely love it. And yeah, if you could check
any of those out, give me a follow it that'd be
really really cool. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:42):
I follow you on Insta, but I will be following
you on YouTube as well.
Speaker 3 (56:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:48):
You're amazing. I can't wait to continue to watch you
can pave you away in this space, and thank you
because there's it makes it so. It just opens the
door for women in sports like this, and I especially
love it when it is a beautiful, down to earth, likable,
(57:08):
lovable personality behind the sport, which you definitely are.
Speaker 3 (57:13):
Oh, thank you, Tiffany.
Speaker 1 (57:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (57:15):
It's really nice.
Speaker 1 (57:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (57:18):
No, I really appreciate it. Yeah, keep killing it yourself
as well, and yeah, keep podcast up because yeah, now
I've got something to listen to my way to work
every morning. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (57:29):
Excellent. Thanks everyone check her out.
Speaker 3 (57:31):
Bye bye. She said, it's now and never.
Speaker 2 (57:38):
I got fighting in my blood
Speaker 1 (58:02):
To
She said, it's now never.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I got fighting in my blood.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm tiff. This is Roll with the Punches and we're
turning life's hardest hits into wins. Nobody wants to go
to court, and don't. My friends at test Art Family
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Their team of Melbourne family lawyers have extensive experience in
(00:29):
all areas of family law to facto and same sex couples,
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reach out to Mark and the team at www dot
test Artfamilylawyers dot com dot au. Tara Morrison, welcome to
(00:54):
Roll with the Punches.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Thank you, sir, Fanin. Very happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I'm start here, my idol, here, my idol. I'm obsessed already.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I want to be you. No, oh, thank you. That's
very nice. That's cool. I've listened to a few of
your other podcasts and yeah, they sound You've got some
really inspirational people on here, so I'm somewhat surprised, but
very very very happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Voluntier, Yeah mate, I got shout out to Alan Rourke.
I got nudged by him a couple of times articles
of you sent through. He was like, this would be
a good I was like that because I bought a
motorbike last year. I had had a motorbike when I
was seventeen, a road bike, had a few bikes along
the way, and then nothing for eleven years, and then
(01:42):
in a heartbeat, wow, last February, I just all of
a sudden went, ah, I should Why don't I not
have a bike anymore? And then I went and bought
one and it was the best, and so obviously he
knew that connection, and I went all this chick's awesome.
She raised his motorcycles Solute Superstar And how old are you? Tara?
Speaker 3 (02:03):
That's so cool with me, thank you. I'm twenty one,
just turned twenty one. Yeah apart right hand? Well sorry, no,
go ahead.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Go I think you're going to tell me anyway. How
did you get into motorbike riding and racing?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yes, so I started when I was about seventeen. I
started on my first road bike at two fifteen. My
dad bought it for my sweet sixteenth. Actually yeah, good dad,
thank you. But yeah, I had ridden like dirt bikes
a little bit beforehand, but nothing too serious, just for fun,
just a little bit. But then yeah, when I got
(02:38):
my road bike, I started like a little go kart track,
just wearing jeans and like a leather jacket, and my
mum and dad were both there and it was like
my first time riding a road bike. And they stopped
me after a couple of laps. I'm like, what's up?
And they were like, you can't be riding a jeans
You're gonna put some leathers on or something because I
was going going way fast than they expected. I'm like, hell, yeah,
(03:00):
that sounds good, awesome cool. And then my mom and
dad actually met stunt riding. So I've always been brought
up around on motorbikes and everything, and my mom had
letters that I can fit into with knee sliders and everything.
And then I think the next time I went there
in my mum's letters, I started getting my knee downe
and stuff. And then we slowly started going to like
(03:22):
bigger tracks like track days and everything, and then started
doing club racing and then state racing, and now I'm
racing the National Championships, the National road Racing Championships, So
like some people. Also, when I say that I race motorbikes,
I think dirt bikes. Actually it's actually road bikes. So
I'm a bitchmond on like circuit tracks and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeh.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
But yeah, now I race in the National Series ASPK
it's called and I've also been to the Netherlands and
I've been to Spain and I'm hoping to go to
England in a few months. So I've also done some
international racing as well, which is so cool. But yeah,
it's it started so slowly, but once we started, it
rested so quick.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yeah, at what point did you see? I mean, I
guess you started on a track rather than just cruising
around the road, so it was probably a fairly natural progression.
But how like how soon were you like I want
to I want to race pretty quick?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Like I think I was. I think I did like
just like track days for like maybe like five months
after my first time riding a bike. I did have
my l's and I did ride the bike that is
now my actual race bike. I rode that on the road.
But then when I turned seventeen, I yeah, once I
(04:44):
turned seventeen, I just used my car because I needed
to start carrying around engines and track tires and bike
paths and stuff, so I couldn't carry that on the
bike anyway. And then I turned my bike that I
rode on the road into my race bike, and now
I've got about four of those bikes that are all
(05:04):
race bike set up the exact same. I prefer to
spend all my time on the track instead.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, understandably, yea, what is at what point did you
because it's I know, it's an expensive sport, right, yes,
it's a super expensive sport.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
So at one point.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Did you know or feel that you had potential to
chase this or did that matter to you? Are we
going to do it anyway?
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah? Just like I was saying, the progression was so
quick that I almost didn't really have time to think
about it. My parents have been in the race scene
for a while. My dad also owned a motorcycle shop,
so and he's a like fully qualified mechanic and everything,
(05:54):
so at least that part was all covered and he
was teaching me everything. We were doing all the stuff
to my bike just to a us just ourselves, but
also like he knew lots of people already, like Davo
Johnson who races, the Ala Man t T Yeah, the
biggest circuit racing in the world, the most dangerous as well.
But he's been my coach since like go cut days
(06:16):
and he still coaches me to this day. And you know,
he knew people like Lea by Day who also raced
like primarily in Europe and everything, like he did track
days as well. When I went there and they coached me,
and then yeah, that's how that slow progression, well quick
progression actually should like to say, happened just being coached
(06:38):
by him mainly and having that competitive racing spirit I
think as well helps a lot. Just wanting to win
and then the urge to want to win makes you
go faster. And people like to say a little bit
of like natural talent, like it is in my blood
a little bit I think as well, you know, growing
(06:59):
up around it myself, going to the races, watching it
on a TV every weekend. Yeah, kind of. I don't
want to say it came naturally. It's a lot of
hard work, but at the beginning it did, and gods
of interest and people quickly started following my racing career,
and yeah, I just really agree to love it and
(07:20):
wanted to take it as far as I can. And
even when people ask me now, they're like, what is
the end goal you want of racing? Like what do
you want to end up racing in? I just want
to keep going and going and going and to see
how far I can go. Pretty much that's the that's
the goal, just to go as far as I possibly can.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I love that. What is what in terms of training
for racing? What does that look like? Is there any
physical training that you do or is it all on
the track?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
No? Yeah, definitely got to physical training. That's alsort of
the misconception about racing is people in motorsport. I think
that some people don't think it requires as much physical
you know, energy as like other like all sports something
like that. But it does just as much. Because I
race against the boys in the ASBK racing we have here,
(08:16):
there's no segregation to the boys and girls race against
each other. Yep. And at the moment, I'm the only
female entrant in the three classes the super sport three
hundred and six hundred zuperbikes. Really yeah, I'm the only
entrants to enter. Yeah, thank you, But yeah, in again
(08:36):
and dirt racing and stuff, they have girls and guys classes,
but here in Australia in road racing, because I'm like
one of the only ones, we don't have enough girls
to make it our own separate class. We race against
the boys. Yeah. You know, there's a couple of female
races around Australia that race in the state championships of
(08:56):
each state around Australia, but there's just not an for
us girls in Australia to make a different separate race.
So I'm racing against them. Obviously, it's easier for guys
that have a bit more like endurance and stamina. It's
also easier for them to have, you know, grow muscle
and everything. Yeah, so I've been talking to like a
(09:17):
nutritionists at the moment. Name's Emma had simpler health. She's
been help.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Shouted out to Emma.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Shout out to Emma. Yeah, been helping out heaps with
just like you know, diets on race weekends and out
of race weekends. And I do CrossFit as well. My
partner and I do that together, all endurance, you know,
one rep max reps as well, just to grow muscle
but also stamina. And it's like you're working out but
(09:45):
with a leather suit on. So motorcycle races. When I
come back in, I'm like red as a tomato, dripping
with sweat. Like it's really hard work on the body.
And because your mind is also working over time to
think of every like you know, every corner and every
time you overtake someone, it's really mentally training as well.
(10:05):
So yeah, that you're always under that pressure physically but
also mentally, which wears you physically. So yeah, it's a lot.
It's a lot so training and stuff. I yeah, I
take it really seriously. I'm always doing CrossFit and everything,
and I'm on the motorbike every single weekend, whether that's
racing around Australia, testing at new tracks around Australia, doing
(10:30):
state titles, doing track days, trying out different bikes, trying
out different settings. Yeah, I'm always on the bike, always, always.
It's all about seat time as well. So however much
you get to be on that bike, is how good
you're going to end up being? I reckon?
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Oh yeah, oh mate, the envy. I've twice in my
life I've done a track day. Once was in around
twenty and eleven. Yeah, I was dating a racer and
for our first anniversary he gave me a track date.
I hadn't touched the bike for three years then.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
So he sounds like it was more for him than
It was.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
The second best day of my life. And I put
that just above my very first boxing fight, which was
the most incredible experience. So this came very close second
to that. And do you mind.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Where did you do it? What track were you at?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
At Broadford?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, yep, yeah, on one of his mates six hundred ninjas.
It was known to be one of the fastest six
hundred on the track. How how fast I went? But
I remember wobbling my way out of the gates. Oh,
And his mate goes, dude, is she gonna be all
right on that question? And I came back in after
(11:46):
session one and just rife with adrenaline, but just looked
at them and went, I don't know how you do this.
I just remember because there was so much tension in
my body because I just hadn't been riding, and there
was so much redlin that my arms and legs. I
just went, this is so physic I don't think I
can go out again. This is so physically draining. I'm sore,
(12:08):
it hurts, I'm topped, like doms worse than the gym
has ever done. But the next session, so it was
more relaxed, was better than that. But yeah, I just
could not believe the physicality of the sport.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Yeah it is. It is really physical. You know. That bike.
I don't know if you had a six three six
that the newer six hundred, the Kawazarki ones, but they're
a really heavy bike and they've also got a lot
of power as well. I raised a Kawazarki Ninja four
hundred and I've just started racing a Yamaha R seven
(12:44):
this year as well. My Ninja's got about forty five
horse power and it's about one hundred and fifty kilos,
whereas the R seven that I've just started racing this year,
it's a bigger bike with about sixty five horse power
at about one hundred and sixty five kilos and I'm
only fifty five kilos so kilo me, you know, throwing
(13:07):
around it on one hundred and sixty five kilo machine
underneath me, it is pretty intense, like, you know, trying
to steer it in and yeah, you know, get the
bike to where you want it and handle the power
of it too. But a six hundred that's no mean
feet that would have been. That's not the easiest bike
to ride it, but especially for your first track day.
So that's pretty cool mate.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
There was nothing to be seized at at all.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
No, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
It was almost the same. The first thing I did
when I bought a bike last year was I booked
what I really didn't process this well to I bought
what was advertised as a kind of a lady's road
ride day. Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm like, oh, I'm so
(13:54):
out of condition of riding that I really just I
need I need to be taught again. I need to
remember that everything I'm doing innately is actually correct in
controlling this bike. So I booked this day ladies ride day,
and then as it approaches, I'm like, tip, this is
this is a track day at Broadford again, and you
remember that track day And I was so terrified. The
(14:17):
only reason I went is because I could remember how
great the day was. But I've never been so scared.
I had arrived there, I got I made a friend
and made them come with me because it was all
my friends with bikes and dudes. Yeah, so I made
a friend. Yep, trying again, but so wonderful.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Fun and the girls who have in the community are excellent.
Like all the girls who ride you know, who do
track days and racing and stuff around Australia are just
the best. Like obviously, you know, a girl rider obviously
has an instant connection with another girl rider because there's
not many of us, so it's almost default mates. Yeah,
but yeah, the community is great. We I just want
(15:00):
to try to influence girls to start racing because that
there's so many girls who are so great at doing
like you know, on their bike, gone around the track,
doing track days and stuff. But to make that progression
to doing track days to actually go to your first
like club race or state race is a huge jump.
(15:22):
But I really want to get girls into racing because
the increase of girls like getting on the bike and
going to the track is like growing heaps. I would
just love to see more girls racing. That would be
the dream country for me. That'd be really really cool.
But back to Broadford ticking, I think I think Victoria
(15:42):
has the best and the worst track in Australia really yep,
and Broadford is definitely on the worst end in my
because that's corner where everyone high sights yea, the crash
corner they call it. If you have to go to
a track and there's got a corner called crash corner,
(16:03):
I'm not racing this track.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
The worst thing yeah, well someone come off in the
first session about ten minutes in. It was like someone's
someone's turfs already. The worst thing is since that day,
I've done a bit of research on my bike. I
bought it just an mt O seven. It's naked bike,
right the yeah, the high output one. So so it's good.
It's a good quick bike. It's not the learner model,
(16:27):
which as I was as I was signing the papers
for that, the BUK selling it to me was like,
you know, this is not a learner model, because I
told him I hadn't touched the bike for eleven years.
I rode out there thinking I'm going to I'm going
to flip this as soon as I get on the highway.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
No, don't think like that. I don't think like that.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
But I've read since I've been reading about the suspension
on them, and people just they're like, the suspensions terrible,
you'd never do a track on it, throw you off.
And now I'm ter take it to the track again.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
No, that's not aloney, that's that's bullshit. That's not true
at all.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
No, Hey, you talk to me about like I'm interested in.
I guess that given the physicality of it and a
female racing males, what's the advantage and what's the cost?
So I imagine power to weight. Being lighter, I am
imagining is an advantage, but having strength is an advantage.
(17:23):
What's important.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I was gonna say, funny you say that technique because
the year I started in the ASBK they started a
minimum weight limit. Oh so about a kilo is about
like half a horsepower worth of horsepower obviously, So yeah,
being light would be an advantage. But because we have
(17:45):
to meet a minimum weight, I have to add a
little bit of weight to my bike. So you have
a minimum bike weight and then you have a minimum
bike end right awight. Because I'm such a light rider
compared to the other, like twenty one twenty year old
boys I'm racing against, that I have to add weight
to my bike. Some of the guys I race against
(18:07):
as well are actually like a little bit younger or
a little bit lighter than me as well, so they
would have to add weight as well. But the thing
about the minimum weight limit is to make it all equal.
But I'm someone who's a little bit lighter than the
guy who's racing against me. But my bike ultimately is
heavier because I've had to add the weight to my bike,
(18:28):
whereas his bike's a little bit lighter than mine because
he is heavier. So stronger, heavier dude is dealing with
a lighter bike, whereas me, a lighter check is dealing
with a heavier bike.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Would it make a difference, Well, what difference would it
make putting the weight on the bike or somehow putting
it on the rider? Could you put the weights on
you and change the dynamics of riding in that way? Nah?
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I know, we just pop the weight under the seat.
That is the best way that we've found the balance
of the bike to be, you know, really nice. Yeah, No,
it's like do they do that in jockey? Is that
what horse ridders do? They add the weight to themselves,
don't they? Is that right?
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Actually I'm not actually sure, but no we don't.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I don't think you're allowed to add the weight to yourself.
But that would also like hold you down. You'd prefer
the bike to be heavyer underneath you, but no, so yeah,
we add the weight to our bikes instead. But yeah,
there's lots of there's lots and lots of rules like
that that you have to meet. But obviously our bikes
are all got like aftermarket suspensions front of hawks and
(19:37):
the rear shaker like a different brand than stock as well.
And we have like specific racing foot pegs and specific
racing handlebars like clip ons we call them. We also
have like mufflers that they all give output of different
horsepower too, So it's all it's all the little things
that add up to make a bike a race bike.
(19:59):
But then have to make it fair because in the
Super Sport three hundred, they raise Kawazaki Ninja four hundreds
like I do, or they raise the R threes so
my bike. Also, the computer inside the bike has to
be restricted, so the Yamaha R threes, which have a
three two one cc engine, can keep up with the
Ninja four hundred, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(20:21):
and then the R threes are allowed to fall exhaust
system whereas the Ninjas aren't, but they're made that they're
equals now. But yeah, there's all little knicks and tricks
like that, to make the bike as you know, as
fast as you can, Like one horse power makes a
big difference on the little bikes. So yeah, my bike
is pristine thanks to my dad and my boyfriend's work
(20:45):
and everything because he helps out too. So yeah, there's
all the little things to add up to make it
the best you can.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
How do you like? How did you choose which bike
you wanted to ride?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah? Since the beginning, we like, we've been a Kawazarki
family quackers.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
My first bike was a Kawazaki to fifty. Thanks.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah me too, Yeah, me too, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
well my first road bike was but yeah, that's so cool.
But yeah I had a like an Ininja two fifty,
and then I jumped to an Injo of four hundred.
But yeah, we think that we think the Ninja four
hundreds are a bit cooler and better than the R three.
But now I've got an R seven, so I'm racing
Yamaha anyway as well. But no, no, I love both
(21:27):
the excuse me, no, I love both the brands. But yeah,
just probably a bit a bit more primarily of a
quacker family. But my first bike was a Pee Wee fifty,
which is a little Yamaha. My parents bought that bike
before for myself, before I think I was born, so
I think it was next to my cot waiting for
my arrival after the hospital.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Best parents ever.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Yeah, oh they what, They're wicked. They're very very cool. Yeah,
very lucky to have them.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, oh that's awesome. Tell me more about what it's
like to be competing at a high level in a
male dominated sport. I imagine that even just psychologically that
adds weight.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah, yeah, it does. Yeah, it's a little bit. It's
a bit stressful obviously, but I like to take away
from it hopefully being out a like inspire other girls
that you can do what the boys are doing. It's
not just a boys sport, you know, girls doing it.
The new Women's World Championship that they race in Europe
(22:35):
that started last year, you know, that's an all girls
series that runs alongside the World Superbikes. It's only women
racing in it. So yeah, the introduction of women into
racing is getting much better. But yeah, just it's you know,
it's always been a bit of a boys club. Racing.
(22:56):
Motorsports has always been a boys' sport, but it's yeah,
it's good to try to break that barrier and let girls,
you know, feel like they belong at the track as well. Yeah,
it's obviously lots of good fun on everything, and yeah,
(23:16):
mentally it's a bit tricky on you sometimes when you
know that you're like the only girl on the grid.
Sometimes it's a bit stressful, but you know, you just
got to pop your helmet on and you know, just
do the best you can do. At the end of
the day, it's just your self versut yourself out there,
and that's how I like to see it is. I
(23:37):
just want to do better than myself from the last
time I wrote out, and I try not to think about,
you know, the boys and girl thing too much. But obviously,
yeah it's good to be somewhat of a role model
or something, hopefully to other girls out there who want
to get into it. But yeah, I just tried to
(23:59):
think of about it. I just put my head down,
work and do what I got to do. I guess.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I love it. Do you do you do much road
riding as well? Or you like track only?
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Track only? No, I don't even have my license for
the road.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
So many Why are racers like that? Why don't races
like the.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Road the track. The track is so safe. Like it's
also another thing is if you're if you like have
been thinking about getting a bike or thinking about doing
a track day on your bike, the track is so
so so safe.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
There's like always you know, paramedic paramedics right there if
you need them. The track is clean, there's marshals out
there who can help you. You know, they've got flags
telling you there's a bloody pebble on the track, you know,
just be careful here or anything like that. So yeah,
the track is really really safe. Sometimes I've stubbed my
toe and I'm like, I wish I would just like
(24:53):
low side my bike instead. That hurts way less than
stubbing my toe on this ball right now. It's ridiculous.
But you know, like I had a little low side.
It looks a bit scary, but it's yeah, you're so safe.
The gear and the technology and everything that we have
now is just top notch. So yeah, I feel really
I feel quite safe on the track in all my gear,
and you know, I'm smart and calculated and stuff. So
(25:16):
there obviously a bit of risk to it, especially when
you're racing. There's a bit of risk and I've definitely
had my fair share of injuries. But you know, when
you're on the track doing a track day, it's it's
super safe. Yeah, yeah, it's all good. But yeah, yeah,
I had a few injuries on when I'm racing though.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, tell us about the first time you've turfed it.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yeah, well, oh, I can't even remember. I think the
first time I stacked it was in my mum's leathers,
so mum, so I stuffed those up for her when
I was before I got even my own leathers. But
you know, since then, I've probably stacked it so many
times I couldn't even count, but I've both my collar
(26:00):
bones've been played it up. So yeah, I got cute
scars on my shoulders. And my most recent stack was
I broke my pelvis in half as well. Yeah I
had a high side, yeah, high side and broke my pelvis.
I had racing the next day as well. It was
(26:23):
the first race of the three races for the weekend,
and I was like, no, no, no, I haven't broken it.
Just let me like chill out here for a bit.
Hurts a bit, but I haven't broken anything. Like I
know how it feels to break it. Bye, like no, no,
I'm all good. And they're like, nah, we think you
have We're pretty sure you've broken something. And I'm like no, no,
I've got racing tomorrow. Just like I'll put some mice
on it. She'll be right for tomorrow now I do
(26:44):
on the green whistle or anything. And I'm like nah, noah,
And then yeah, they forced me to go to the
hospital and I was like, yeah, I got okay. And
I went there and they yeah, I did an X
ray and there was a crack right through the middle
and they were like, yeah, you've broken it. I'm like, oh, bugger.
So I was out for a little while. Last year
(27:04):
in the ASBK, I came ninth from the championship. I
missed round two due to breaking my collar bone, and
then I missed I think round five you'd breaking my pelvist.
But this year we've had two rounds. I just came
back from Sydney yesterday, so we've had two rounds of
the ASBK already and I'm second in the championship at
(27:26):
the moment. So yeah, much better start this year than
last year. I'm still in one piece, so that's good far.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Like okay, So after a couple of big crashes where
you're getting you know, broken collar bones and broken pelvis
is nothing to be sneezed at. Like, what's it like
getting back on the bike.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
It's yeah, it's a bit. It was a bit slow.
You want to get out way quicker than what people
recommend to here. But I've usually harped what the doctors
have said to me to be I've halved that time
because I just want to. I want to get back
out again. I want to. It stucks being at home
(28:07):
sitting on the couch just you know, and everyone else
is writing and racing and it's just it's so hard
to be at home not doing what you love. And
then yeah, you just get back out again, and it
just comes as a territory. You just you know, it's
something that you're thinking about, Like it's not something that
you think about, but it's something that you're aware that
(28:28):
could happen, and it's just the risk you take. But
it's really easy to take that risk when you just
love the sports so so much. And it's on the
rare occasion too that you hurt yourself even at all.
But yeah, it's just it's perseverance, it's courage, brave, bravery.
(28:50):
I guess, you know, you just pick yourself back up
and go out again. One of my first experiences writing,
I did speedway when I was about five years old,
and it's just like it's just a little dirt track
that you just go around around. When I was about
five or four, racing against the boys again and the
kids would the kids would have a stack and their dad,
(29:13):
their dads would jump over the barrier and help them
pick him back up and then have a cry or whatever,
and then they come back into the pits. They wouldn't
get back on their bike. And then I remember once
probably the biggest life lesson that I think my dad
ever taught me was I had a stack and then
you know, I had to cry on the track and
I was looking at my dad like come on, jump
over the fence and come help me, and he's like,
(29:34):
nap helping. You got to pick it up yourself and
do yourself, so like pick it up, pick it up,
And all the dads are looking at him, what the heck?
And I was like, oh, okay, I picked it up,
and I remember still crying in my helmet. He's like,
finish the race, and I was just crying going around
the track, crying in my helmet. But I went around
the track and I finished the race and I came back.
(29:54):
There wasn't a scratch on me, and you know, and
he's like, see, you did it. You stucked it and
you got back up. You pick your bike up yourself.
You could do it yourself, you know, and you finish
the race and you've got the points and everything. And
that was a really big lesson that you just I
don't know, you just have to pick yourself back up
and keep going. You can't stop.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
It's actually really smart. Yeah, you think.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
About at the time, I was like, oh Dad, you suck.
But now this is shape. Thanks a lot, But now
I'm really grateful for it. You know. I learned that
lesson when I was like four instead of way later
in life, that yeah, you got to pick yourself back up.
And that's what I did. And now it's just my
instant reaction that anytime I have a stack on the bike,
even if it's a track day or a race, I
(30:40):
sprint over to it and I try my best, you know,
I pick it up and I keep going. Yeah, yeah,
it's got to get it done. Just yeah, it's good.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
But the things we go through, like those that experience
lives in your body and so if if you walk
away from it, you're kind of pressing pause on that,
that's going to wait till you You're going to have
a reaction when you get back on the bike, because
you're gonna have this kind of body memory of like, oh, yeah,
I stacked it. It's gonna be terrifying.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
Yeah, I mean I kind of love that. Yeah, you
would definitely feel that with boxing and stuff like that, like,
oh but it's repetitive. But in that moment, you have
to keep you know, picking yourself back up that I
could I could not imagine that that'd be really hard.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Well, that's as you've been talking. I've been reflecting on
exactly that relationship with hard and how like we're talking.
We think people might be listening thinking, oh, you're talking
about this thing that is not even relevant to me,
But it is right because what you're experiencing in terms
of adrenaline and courage and doing hard things is reflected
(31:45):
in your life. When you like my boxing coach used
to always push and push and push me and be like,
I'm not training you for the fight, I'm training you
for life. If you can deal with this, then there's
nothing this life can throw it that you can't deal.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
With exactly exactly. And I yeah, I think motorcycle racing
as well has that aspect to it. It almost takes
so much from you that it pushes you to your
absolute limit all the time, and then it gives you
something because it was so hard to get there, so
(32:23):
expensive and tiring and long and draining, and it majeor
sore trying to get there, and you know all the
compromise that everyone around you has to make for you
to live your dream, and then to have one moment,
you know, it just it fuels you for the next year.
Ioud at the first round this year, I won the
(32:44):
opening race and the supersport three hundred. I was the
first first female to ever win a supersport three hundred
race in the national road racing category. So I beat
forty guys. I was forty one entrance and I was
the first one across the line. The rest of the
forty boys followed behind me. But yeah, it's just like
(33:04):
to get even to get to Victoria, you know, to
ten hour drive, you gotta sell your pitch hed You've
got to get the bikes ready beforehand, you've got to
pay for ties, you you know, do the weekend. It's hard,
it's grueling, it's you know, hard work, and then you
just you get past the finish line in first and
you're like, oh, that's what it's all for, and it's
just one day and then it's over there. It just
(33:27):
it just keeps you going. You just it's addicting. You're
just always chasing that feeling again, and you get it
because you're so dedicated to it that it comes like
hard work actually does pay off, it really does. So yeah,
it's very rewarding to see in racing. And yeah, like
(33:47):
when when people see like motorbike races, win a race,
they're like they think it's great and stuff like that,
but for the race, so it's just you have no
idea like how much work they had to do to
get there. And with you as well with boxing and
things just sport in general. Just like the person who
wins sees the sacrifices, whereas not many other people do.
(34:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Yeah, it's one of the first lessons I often talk
about is when I reflect back and I think of
my first fight, which was a twelve week corporate boxing challenge,
like I was, WHOA, You're already hero, Like, oh yeah,
I'll do that twelve weeks, lady in the ring. It's insane.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
And I went through that, and it was the day
before where the nerves just I felt sick and I said,
I said out to my mum, I said, I will
never ever do this or anything like this again, because
nothing in the whole world could ever be worth how
I feel today, like I couldn't even describe it. And
then I did the fight like I did it anyway,
(34:50):
and I stood outside the ring afterwards, watching other fights
and just going this is life, like it takes twelve
twelve weeks, which isn't much really in real life it's
a lot more. But for me it was this the
first time I went for twelve weeks, I changed everything.
I did the hard thing. I battled my own in
a critique. I walked to the gym every day I
(35:11):
was tired. I didn't drink alcohol like eight different. I
didn't socialized when I wanted to socialize. I trained every
single f and day. I got punched in the face
and punching the face and punching the face and punched
the face and then it was over in four and
a half minutes and the outcome meant really meant nothing
to anyone else but me, And I was like, oh,
this is everything in life, Like, if you have a goal,
(35:34):
that's the amount of work and sacrifice versus the moment
of it happening, And that's how much it needs to
mean to you exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Yeah, you're You're so right. I completely agree with you there,
it's yeah. And then you're spending so much time, every
minute of every day leading up to it, and then
you know, like either You've got one four and a
half minute fight or I've got like one fifteen minute
race and it all comes down onto that. It's just
so I understand that how you felt before your fire
(36:04):
as well, because I feel very civiler before a race.
And my Mum's always like, it's just excitement, like you're
getting it confused with being nervous. You're not nervous, You're
just excited. I'm like, no, no, I'm nervous, thanks my
love your guys, but no I feel sick.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Yeah, it's like, oh, I'm good. Then this wave of
emotion you're like, oh.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
God, it makes you It makes you realize how capable
you are, and then how you have that feeling in
your gut, in your throat, in your head and you
do it anyway.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Yeah, but then then the realization that you, Tara, cannot
perform the way you need to physically without that chemical
reaction happening in your body.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
You need the adrenaline in order to have the reaction
time improve, and.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
You just have to focus everything onto racing and be like,
this is what this is for and and yeah, yeah,
I'm not too sure if it's the same with boxing,
but for racing, like if you're not one hundred percent
in oh, yeah, you can't make it. You have to
be one hundred and ten percent dedicated, yeah, or it's
(37:15):
a twenty four to seven sport. Like even though we're
only racing on the weekends, it's like the training and
the mental side of it beforehand, and the getting the
bikes ready, working on them and even working to save
up money to pay for the tires for the racing.
It's like every single thing I do in my life
is around racing. Absolutely everything, every single decision I make
(37:39):
is around it, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Do you feel, how do I want to ask it, like,
are you aware now that of the fact that you
are already etched in history? Ah, jeez, you didn't know
if if you hadn't worked that out. Sorry to put
(38:03):
that all of that on you now.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
No, I mean no, yeah, I yeah, I'm aware. Yeah. Sorry,
just put a massive smile on my face. But yeah, no,
I'm aware, And I'm just I want to set more records.
I want to do more things. I want my name
to be out there. I want people to know me.
(38:26):
I want to be someone's like Anna Grasco or Valentino
Rossi or does someone that they look up to and
then you know, they get into it themselves because they've
heard of me, and and yeah, and I want to
set those records for myself and you know, for my
own career as well as you know, all other like
kids and girls or races out there. But yeah, yeah,
(38:51):
I'm aware of it, and I want to I want
to set more records. I want to be the first
woman to win a national champion in chips. So I'm
in the right direction right now. But there's about forty
three of us on a leaderboard and I'm second, And yeah,
I want to be the first female to win an
ASVK championship. So yeah, just to have those massive goals
(39:15):
is what I need. And you just got to even
if you like sometimes don't believe in yourself, you just
got to set the goal and just just do as
much as you can. Just how hard you want it,
how bad you want it, and stuff like that, you
just got to chase it as much as you can
make it happen all over again, keep going on to
(39:36):
the next goal and the next goal, the next goal,
and always have something in front of you, which there's
no shortage of that in racing. There's always something you
can improve on, you know. So that's also another good
for another good thing about my life as well, that
I always feel like I'm chasing something. I'm not stationary.
I'm always moving forward, and I'm really grateful for that
(39:58):
in my racing career and that in my life as well.
It's really good.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Every time you mentioned the being second on the leaderboard
or you give me a visual of winning against forty
other blokes, I get goosebumps all to my body. Like
the level of excitement I have for that is almost
too much for me to stand right now.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
Thank you, oh man, you have no idea. Like there's
there's a photo the race, the photo finish they called it.
They posted it on the ASBK Facebook and it's me
like celebrating with my arm like humping up and I'm
looking behind me at the guys and they're like neck
and neck, and I'm like a bike length in front
of them, and I'll just you know, going around, you know,
(40:45):
standing taking a moment of fame. You're like ten minutes
of fame and riding around the track and everyone's clapping
for you, and you're trying to like wras up the
crowd and you know, wave it and high fiving all
the marshals to coming in part Fermey and you know,
just that little moment of fame. It sounds so silly,
but yeah it was. It was really surreal. I came
(41:09):
a third for that that round overall, which put me
third in the championship, and then this last round at
Sydney Motorsport Park the weekend just gone, I'm not as strong.
That's what I was talking about in Victoria, that Victoria
has the best and worst track. So Philip Island, the
track that I absolutely love is the best there. And
(41:31):
then Broadford my favorite but Philip Barnes my favorite in Australia,
and then Sidney Motorsport Park this weekend is yeah, I
haven't been there very much, so I you know, you
have to be a little bit realistic about it. I'm like, oh,
I might be like dropped down a position or two,
but to actually go up a position and come second
(41:52):
now in the champion second championship now is really good feeling.
I've got five more rounds left, so I've got two
more in Queensland, got one more in Sydney again, and
then we're going back to Philip Island and then the
last race of the year in November is back home
for the finale at Taylor Bend in South Australia. So
(42:12):
it's a long it's a long championship. You're just going
to stay consistent and steady, level headed, and you know,
think about the championship. You can you can definitely you
can't win a championship in a round, but you can
definitely lose one. So consistency is key and that's what
I'm looking at overall. You know.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
What, I guess different types of riders are suited to
different types of tracks, Is that right? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (42:40):
I think so philip Island's a really fast and smooth track. Yeah,
I yeah, I have no trouble with fifth get corners,
like holding it flat. Holding it flat's really easy. But
then when I had to start using my brakes, I'm like, wow, bugger.
But yeah, fast tracks I really like. I just like
(43:03):
having like having it flat out all the time. That's
my style for sure. And Philippine is also a very smooth,
flowy track, which I like as well. But then there's
other tracks on the calendar that might be a bit
more aggressive, like more sharp turn corners or hard breaking
or something like that, which I also like. But my
(43:26):
definite strong point is definitely fast and flowy tracks. I
have a need for speed, I guess. But yeah, I've
been to Asen, which is the Cathedral of Speed. That
was my first international race. I raced over there with
a team that also had a team in the World
Supersport three hundred Championships, So I learned heaps there, you know,
(43:48):
racing that My teammates were people who racing the world
and stuff, and I think that's another spot where it
kickstarted my career and made me jump to the next
level as well, because they raced the same bikes as me,
And yeah, I had lots of fun at that track
and would absolutely love to go back and race there
with all the added experience and knowledge that I have
(44:09):
on a bike now and go back to that track.
But yeah, that was a beautiful experience, very very fun.
And then yeah, so next year I'm hoping to race
in the Women's World Championship on my R seven. Girls
all round the world from like England, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, everything,
all racing that championship and yeah, I would love to
(44:31):
do that. And the lineup for the tracks that they
have looked like they would be strong tracks to me
as well, and definitely bucket list tracks I would love
to go to. So yeah, that's also a really exciting
endeavor that I have my mindset onto. Yeah, oh I
love that.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
On mindset? Who like, do you manage yours? Do you
specifically work on your mindset? You're thinking?
Speaker 3 (44:58):
Yeah, yeah, definitely. I Again, I speak to Emma a
little bit about that, about the mental side of being,
as she calls it, an elite athlete. I never really
viewed it like that until you know, she started talking
to me about it like that. But yeah, again, Like
(45:19):
what I was saying earlier is that everything I do
I have in mind to my racing, whether that's sleep, eating,
physical training, you know, everything is all in mind with that.
But yeah, I've definitely started like a lookout for like
sports psychologist kind of things, because it is really heavy
(45:41):
on your mind, the kind of sport that we do.
And yeah, I do want to start getting into that
a little bit deeper, but I haven't necessarily as of lately.
But yeah, it's definitely something I'm looking into to take
a bit more seriously as well, to have the final
piece of the puzzle and just make everything about raising. Yeah,
(46:05):
but I've got a really good community around me, you know,
people who help out a lot, and you know, make
it a much easier load on myself. But you know,
when you enjoy it as well, that makes it a
bit easier, a little bit less stressful, and it's going
to make it a fun experience for yourself. And yeah,
just trying to have some fun at the same time
as well.
Speaker 1 (46:24):
So yeah, I did a late last year or mid
last year, I Did you love this episode on the
show Trying to Find the Number of It Mind Faith
Episode seven hundred and ninety three I did with Ben
Felton and Kevin McGee. Do you know those names?
Speaker 3 (46:43):
They sound oh McGhee, yes, yes, that sounds familiar.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Yeah, so McGee, Kevin McGhee or Magoo. He's from Horse
and the Horse and Hurricane. He won the Spanish GP
in nineteen eighties. Nineteen eighty eight, I think, oh wow,
and I think it might have been about two and
Ben Felton and him. He was a navigator. Ben Felton
one or yeah one the Guinness or became the Getness
(47:08):
World Record hold off for the fastest blind man on
a motorcycle. Yeah, it's incredible. They made a documentary. So
I had them on the show. I m seed an
event in a chukull with them there and they had
just insane for a start, insane. I remember Kevin had
(47:28):
had had a stack on his bike and it was
actually and he got a traumatic brain injury and in
when we were at the event, and he was talking
about that, and he'd mentioned to me earlier but hadn't
really you know, just forget to mention these things on
the podcast or in conversation. I'm like he got read
(47:51):
his last rights when he was in hospital, like it was.
It was looking really grim, but yet he was out
of hospital and back ray seeing within something like I
can't remember it was maybe six six months or something,
it was a matter of months, but I remember them
testing his reaction time, and at the time I was
(48:12):
thinking of all of the things that we don't always
think of in terms of what's important for specific sports
and athletic ability, because his reaction time was well above
average for the average person after a traumatic brain injury.
And at the time, I was like, oh, it may
even made me reflect on previously boxing and thinking, oh,
(48:36):
you know, how much training would just be flogging yourself
in the gym as opposed to git. Did I ever
think of how to improve my own reaction time or
you know those small variables that actually, you know, I
was thinking. I was picturing you on Philip Island. Yeah,
just like having the balls to keep the throttle flat
(48:59):
out through corn and I'm like, oh, like that that's
an advantage that a micro second changes a lot in
the race.
Speaker 3 (49:08):
No, it does, it does, but yeah, having that confidence
in yourself you have to be you have to trust
yourself so much. And yes, now that you say that, Ken,
I do know Kevin McGee, my dad would be so
upset with me if I didn't, So no, I do
know Kevin McGee. You raced in the GP with people
(49:30):
that were rainy and stuff like that, so yeah, I
do know of him. Definitely, he's insane. That's crazy that
you had did a podcast and that's so cool. But yeah,
it's all about trust within yourself, confidence in yourself, and
that comes with just riding the bike as much as
(49:51):
you possibly can, you know, almost becoming one with it.
I was talking about that with my mum of the day,
and you know, how the bike operates also has a
lot to do with your team around you. So my
partner and my mum and my dad and my grandpa
Glenn come to the track and Glenn used to race
as well in the ASPK the national championships and won
(50:16):
the championship on the big bikes as well himself. So
having them there with a really high understanding of how
the bike works and operates for someone who's racing it
is really important because I don't have to think about
that as much, or I think about is racing and
then I hop on my bike and it's set up
(50:37):
really nice, and you know, I talked him about it
afterwards saying like, oh, it felt like it could have
a bit more pre load, it felt a bit soft
in the front, or it felt a bit like it
was chattering in the rear, or you know, it was
running really wide, and then they just changed the bike
with the suspension and then when I hop back on
it nine out ten times it feels better. So yeah,
(51:00):
Or like on rails, people say a lot like when
you're riding really well, that like it's on rails and
that's when you know that you and the bike almost
become one. That sounds a bit naugh, but just underneath
you just all you do is thinking about what you
want the bike to do, and it just does it.
That's a really good feeling. And you know, having a
really good team makes it easier on me as well,
(51:22):
who definitely have an idea in what they're doing. Makes
me have a lot more confidence in my bike and myself.
And you know, you have to have a lot of
confidence in your bike as well. And hasn't missed a
beat touch Wood, So yeah, lots of confidence in my team,
bike and myself for sure. Got a good thing going.
Speaker 1 (51:40):
Absolutely, and even just the level of being able to
communicate and understand what you say and what that means
and how that translates to what they do to the
bike and your ability to adjust to the changes. That's
so much science.
Speaker 3 (51:57):
Yeah, it is, it really is. You're like, yeah, we've
got a you know, like a not a graph, but
like a spec sheet. After every single session I do,
we write down every single part about the bike and
what change and even what the track temperature was, and
(52:18):
it's little teeny bits that all go into it to
make it, you know, perfect for you. But yeah, racing
isn't just about how good the rider is. It matters
about how good the bike is, and you know, how
good the support around you is and how much they
know as well. Just recently Steve Martin, he's currently a
(52:43):
commentator in the ASBK, but he used to race in
the World Endurance Championship and stuff like that and in
the World's even and he is like a very big racer.
But he commentates the A's b K and we've formed
a really good relationship and he comes down talks to
us and helps us out with bikes set up. And
(53:06):
you know, my dad was a stunt rider, so he
could ride any bike really well.
Speaker 1 (53:10):
You could just love to be a stunt rider. Can
you get your dad to teach me? That will be the.
Speaker 3 (53:14):
Oh my gosh, he wants to teach me how to
do a WHEELI and I can only do it accidentally,
so but it's so hard. I'm like, how do you
do that? I can get my knee dout super easy.
I don't even think about it. But if I ever
were to think about doing a fricking like a wheel
stand like a wheelie, or putting my legs over the handlebars,
(53:35):
or doing a massive like twelve o'clock stoppy, like, no way,
there's absolutely no chance. I didn't get that gene from him, unfortunately. No,
But yeah, he could just jump on any bike and
just ride it so well. Like I think that's the
difference between like maybe a stunt rider and a racer
a little bit. But at least for me, I'm a
little bit picky, like I need things very specifically and
(53:58):
I don't like change too much. And you know, but
Steve Martin obviously used to race himself, and he knows
how to talk to me really well in that way
that I'm like, yeah, he totally gets it, you know,
And when I say something to him, he understands from
his own experience as well, and how to explain it
to my dad and team a bit better, and how
to change the bike as well, because yeah, there's just
(54:21):
a little language that races speak as well, Like you
sometimes see them on the TV. They're like lang lang lang,
or it's going and it makes complete sense to another
race that everyone else is like, what is she talking about? I?
And that's like what Nah, he gets it, but yeah, nah,
it's yeah, little things that people don't really know. But
(54:44):
we're always changed in the bike, and yeah, make it
a little bit different and you know tiewear and yeah,
everything makes a difference, and there are lots of things
to think about.
Speaker 1 (54:57):
I was just trying to find there's this brilliant female
stunt rider that I follow on Instagram that I want
to send to you, and I can't.
Speaker 3 (55:06):
Oh, I think I know her. She's got she's praying.
Speaker 1 (55:10):
The ninja that's like like a pearlized color one and
a couple of there's a pearl. Yeah, when I will
send it to you, I cannot think of her name.
But you know what was really freaky is when I
opened Instagram to look for it, I thought I'll just
maybe if you'll pop up in my Explore. I open
the Explore panel, which is currently full of comedians because
that's all I've been watching, and all of a sudden,
(55:31):
because of this conversation we're having, it's full of motorcycle racing.
And I was like, yeah, and I haven't been looking
that up. Oh shout out to the algorithm, but I
will find that awesome stunt rider. Can you tell my
listeners where they can follow you, find you, watch you,
(55:53):
anything you want to promote, any shout out that you
want to do.
Speaker 3 (55:56):
Yes, please, thank you. Yeah, I'm on Instagram, book, and YouTube.
Ti Morrison Racing on Instagram, Ti Morrison Racing ninety five
on Facebook, and Time Morrison Racing ninety five on YouTube.
My YouTube channel, I make like.
Speaker 4 (56:14):
Behind the scene videos and videos of racing and so
you can see all what that's about and I explain
it and you guys can get an understanding of.
Speaker 3 (56:26):
How it works at the national level and everything. But yeah,
I've a YouTube video that I've started. The YouTube channel
that I've started has been one of the best decisions ever.
I absolutely love it. And yeah, if you could check
any of those out, give me a follow it that'd be
really really cool. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:42):
I follow you on Insta, but I will be following
you on YouTube as well.
Speaker 3 (56:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:48):
You're amazing. I can't wait to continue to watch you
can pave you away in this space, and thank you
because there's it makes it so. It just opens the
door for women in sports like this, and I especially
love it when it is a beautiful, down to earth, likable,
(57:08):
lovable personality behind the sport, which you definitely are.
Speaker 3 (57:13):
Oh, thank you, Tiffany.
Speaker 1 (57:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (57:15):
It's really nice.
Speaker 1 (57:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (57:18):
No, I really appreciate it. Yeah, keep killing it yourself
as well, and yeah, keep podcast up because yeah, now
I've got something to listen to my way to work
every morning. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (57:29):
Excellent. Thanks everyone check her out.
Speaker 3 (57:31):
Bye bye. She said, it's now and never.
Speaker 2 (57:38):
I got fighting in my blood
Speaker 1 (58:02):
To
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