TED Collins secured second spot in the Supersport championship standings after a challenging opening round of the 2016 Pirelli Motul Victorian Road Racing Championships at the State Motorcycle Sports Complex at Broadford, April 9-10.
In his debut appearance in the Supersport B grade, Ted finished second in Race 1, second in Race 2 and fourth in Race 3. “There’s a new four tyre limit in the VRRC, which made qualifying a bit difficult.
“We knew we didn’t want to waste our tyres so I went out and put in a lap-time, and I wasn’t really happy with it,” Ted said. “I thought I could go a bit quicker but sort of just had to live with it because I didn’t want to wear my tyres out for the races,” he added.
“I ended up third on the grid but I knew I was good at starts so I didn’t think it was going to be a huge problem. In Race 1, we got a really good start.
“Ryan (Taylor) passed me on lap 2 I think, and Lincoln Sutherland tried to pass me but made a mistake and I finished that race in second pretty comfortably, which was a good start,” Ted recalled.
“In Race 2, I got another good start and led for about six laps, I think, and then Ryan ended up getting me again and I had a five second lead from Shane Maggs so I brought it home from second as Ryan pulled a little gap on me,” Ted added.
Unknowingly for Ted, he jump-start in Race 3. “I didn’t even know I jump-start until I went around and saw the board. I knew I had a 10 second penalty and Lincoln (Sunderland) was right behind me so he went passed me.
“I finished fourth in that race, which is a bit disappointing because I know I could’ve done better,” Ted said.
Ted, however, was happy with his performance on the weekend. “Hopefully, in the next few rounds, we’ll be closer to the front. This weekend we knew that this was going to be our worst round and we hope by the end of the year we’ll be closer to the front,” Ted added.
Ted is also looking forward to heading to Phillip Island for Round 2 of the VRRC in August. “Broadford’s a really good track but it’ll be good to go to Phillip Island as it’s something different. It’s pretty fast and flowing,” he said.
The rising motorcycle star is also sitting in sixth-place in the Supersport championship in the 2016 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship.
“We’re heading off to Sydney for the third round of the ASBK this weekend. We’re sitting in sixth-place and hopefully we’ll just keep improving,” Ted added.
“I’d really like to thank Traction Control Suspension and Next Gen Motorsport for all their help this season,” he praised.
Round 2 of the 2016 Pirelli Motul Victorian Road Racing Championships takes place at the Phillip island Grand Prix Circuit on the weekend of August 27-28. For more information please visit: www.vrrc.com.au.