Tayla Relph is an Australian motorcycle racer who became the first woman to win a race in the Australian Championship and now competes in the WorldWCR series, balancing her racing career with running a full-time athlete management business.

EARLY YEARS

Born around 1997, Tayla Relph threw her leg over a dirt bike at age six and started racing motocross like plenty of Aussie kids do. The difference? She was competing against boys from the start—because in Australia, there simply weren’t enough girls racing to create separate classes. It was sink or swim, and she learned early that no one was going to hand her anything.

But here’s the thing about starting young: you don’t always know what you love yet. By eight or nine, Relph was losing her passion for motocross. “I wasn’t very good at motocross and sort of slowly started losing the passion,” she admitted years later. Lucky for her, her dad knew someone into Supermotard racing who had an idea that would change everything. They suggested putting slick tires on her KTM 65 and taking it to a go-kart track.

That was it. The moment the bike hit tarmac with proper racing slicks, something clicked. “I loved it and fell in love with road racing very quickly!” she said. By age ten, she’d made the transition to road racing. At eleven, she lined up for her first proper road race. No turning back.

OTHER INTERESTS

When she’s not twisting a throttle, Relph runs TAYCO Creative, her full-time athlete management business. It’s not some vanity side hustle—she works with over 25 riders in the Australian Superbike Championship paddock, handling PR, marketing, and social media content. During the off-season, she’s neck-deep in building brands and managing careers for other racers who need what she’s figured out the hard way: that talent on track means nothing if nobody knows who you are.

EARLY SUCCESS

Relph cut her teeth racing internationally early on, competing in New Zealand and India while most teenagers were figuring out their school formal dates. She participated in Red Bull Rookie Selection events in 2012 and 2013—serious proving grounds where talent gets spotted or sent home.

In 2014, still a teenager, she scored an overall round win on her first appearance in the Australian Championship and finished second in the Moto3 class. Not bad for a debut. But 2016 was the year that cemented her name in Australian motorsport history. Racing a Honda 250cc Moto3 bike, Relph won not once, but twice—and became the first woman ever to win a race in the Australian Championship. She finished third overall that season, consistently battling blokes who probably weren’t thrilled about being beaten by a girl from Victoria.

“When I won my very first race, that was the turning point and confidence boost,” she reflected. “It proved to a lot of people out there that just because I was a girl I didn’t stop my capabilities on a motorbike.”

By 2018, she was mixing it up in the Australian Supersport 300 championship, finishing second in a race against 27 males. For years, she was a consistent top-five finisher in the Australian Championship—until she switched bikes and her results took a dive. More on that later.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2014: Overall round win on first Australian Championship appearance; 2nd in Moto3 class.
• 2016: First woman to win a race in the Australian Championship; two wins in Moto3; 3rd overall.
• 2017: Competed in FIM Asia Cup of Road Racing in India.
• 2018: 2nd place finish in Australian Supersport 300 race against 27 male competitors.
• 2024: 7th overall in WorldWCR; season-best 3rd place at Cremona Circuit, Italy, racing for TAYCO Motorsport.
• 2025: Tied 9th overall in WorldWCR; best Superpole P5; season-best race P6 at Jerez finale (one second from podium), racing for Full Throttle Racing.

INSPIRATIONS

Here’s the brutal truth: when Relph was ten years old and falling in love with road racing, she had no female role models in the sport. Zero. Nobody to look up to, nobody blazing a trail she could follow. She was the trail, whether she realized it or not.

“I am so proud that I can now stand tall, on the world stage, and be that positive female role model to the younger generation and be the role model that I wish I had when I was 10 years old,” she said. That absence shaped her. Now, she’s determined to be what she never had. “I finally get given the opportunity to be that role model that I never had growing up.”

Her father’s connection to the Supermotard world opened the door to road racing, and support from people like Dave Fuller at Northstar Yamaha proved essential when she made her comeback. But mostly, Relph seems driven by the younger version of herself—the kid who loved racing but had no one who looked like her doing it at the top level.

REPUTATION

Relph’s reputation in Australian motorsport is rock-solid: she’s the woman who proved it could be done. First female race winner in the Australian Championship. Role model. Survivor. But she’s also realistic about the limitations—something that makes her more credible, not less.

“In Australia, there are not enough women to have our own class, so I have raced against the males my whole career,” she explained. She knows what it’s like to be the only woman on the grid, race after race, year after year. And she’s candid about the physical realities. “Everybody does say that women can race against men—it’s something that’s really opened up my eyes,” she said regarding WorldWCR. “For so many years, women have been trying to do something that is statistically impossible.”

That’s not defeatist talk—it’s clear-eyed honesty from someone who’s spent her entire career going toe-to-toe with men and knows exactly where the ceiling is. WorldWCR gave her something she’d never had: a level playing field. “What WorldWCR basically does is finally give us an opportunity to race something that’s bigger and also be incredibly competitive at the same time.” For Relph, the chance to compete in a women’s world championship was, in her words, “a no-brainer.”

Her team manager Ted Collins noted that in 2025, “Tayla made huge progress in her riding, racecraft, and confidence”—describing them as “the biggest steps in her career so far.” That’s high praise for a racer who already had a championship-winning pedigree back home.

Then there’s the health battle. In 2019, Relph retired from racing after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. She’d tried moving up to Supersport 600, but she wasn’t fast enough—and her body was failing her. “I retired because my health was just incredibly bad,” she said bluntly. “Crohn’s disease is a pretty crap diagnosis.” The media called her return a “remarkable rise from debilitating disease to world stage,” and they’re not wrong. Coming back from a chronic illness that can leave you bedridden is one thing. Coming back to race motorcycles at world championship level? That’s something else entirely.

She’s also not precious about admitting when something isn’t working. After years of success on the Yamaha R3, she switched to a Kawasaki 400—and her results tanked. She reverted to the R3 because it suited her riding style, height, and weight better. In 2025, she raced the Yamaha YZF-R7 in WorldWCR, a 689cc parallel-twin that’s become the series’ spec platform. The crashes have been frequent—she left after round three at Tailem Bend in 2024 due to difficulties, and she’s had multiple DNFs. But she’s walked away from those crashes largely unscathed, thanks in part to her RST airbag suit.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Relph is locked in for 2026 with Full Throttle Racing on the Yamaha R7—her third full season in WorldWCR. This isn’t a comeback tour or a victory lap. She’s coming for the championship. “The goal in 2026 is to take another step forward and fight for bigger results,” she said. “I want to fight for the World Championship in 2026. We have unfinished business.”

At Jerez in the 2025 finale, she finished sixth—just one second off the podium. That’s the kind of margin that keeps you hungry over winter. Her team—led by manager and crew chief Ted Collins, with mechanic Nick Primmer and crew members Wayne Nicholson, Shane Kinderis, Steven Relph, and Jon Collins—has her back. She’s got the bike dialed in, the team sorted, and the experience under her leathers.

Off-track, TAYCO Creative keeps her busy during the off-season. Managing 25-plus riders in the ASBK paddock isn’t a part-time gig—it’s a full-blown business that she’s built from scratch. She’s a full-time content creator and athlete manager, which means she understands both sides of the sport: the racing and the selling. That’s rare.

But make no mistake—2026 is about one thing: that world championship. Relph has spent her entire career being the first, the only, the pioneer. Now she wants to be the champion. And honestly? After everything she’s been through—the lack of role models, the years racing men, the Crohn’s diagnosis, the comeback, the crashes—betting against her seems like a bad idea.

References:

WorldSBK.com – HER STORY: meet Tayla Relph
AMCN.com.au – Tayla Relph Confirmed for 2026 WorldWCR
Speedcafe.com – Tayla Relph’s remarkable rise
Junctionjournalism.com – Road racing not for the faint hearted
YouTube – Australian born Tayla Relph on Making Motorcycle History
YouTube – Life after WorldWCR // Full-time content creator