Features 15 Aug 2017

Five Questions Why: Ted Collins

Supersport championship leader on a selection of topics.

Next Gen Motorsports’ Ted Collins has been a star of the Supersport category in this year’s Yamaha Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), capturing victory at the last two rounds to lead the class with a staggering 46-point advantage. We tracked down the Suzuki rider to ask him Five Questions Why.

Image: Keith Muir.

Why has Next Gen Motorsports played an important role in your 2017 campaign?

Well I guess they took me on at the start of 2016, so we did the 2016 season together and that probably worked well as a learning year to get me used to the team and to understand how it all works. This year I feel very much apart of the team, I understand everyones there to help me and we’re all working really together – with Troy and Scotty as well, everyone has their role and everything is working smoothly – I’m really enjoying working with them to be honest.

Why have we seen big improvements from you in the Supersport category?

You look at my results and I think we’ve just been taking little steps all the time – we didn’t come out at my first ever Supersport race and be at the front, we’ve had to work our way up to it. Last year was all about learning, and we did a lot of testing in the off-season before this year. I think that helped a lot – I learned a lot with the bike and I’ve been training a lot more. Everything is coming together for this year and that’s what our plan was anyway.

Why have have you won the last two rounds of ASBK in the Supersport class?

I suppose that comes down to having one of the best Supersport teams in the paddock behind me, and I’ve been training a lot with Jake Royle from Race Fit Athlete Development. Everything is just coming together in the last few months I guess.

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Why has your Suzuki GSX-R600 assisted you to a number of solid results this year?

When I first got on the Suzuki – I came from Moto3 jumping up to the 600 – I just felt it suited my riding style a lot better. The power delivery is very smooth and it handles well, Suzukis definitely aren’t the fastest bikes in a straight line, but I feel it definitely suits my riding style the best.

Why are you a rider to watch in the years to come?

That’s a hard question I suppose. I think I’m very dedicated in what I’m doing, I definitely want to win the Supersport championship this year, but the overall goal is to win a Superbike championship – that’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid. If I can win the Supersport championship this year that would be awesome, but a Superbike title is the overall goal.

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