It’s Bridget Bell, and we’re back with the latest from Flash-Femmes, our feature column celebrating Australian Women in Motoring.
My friend, Australia’s Fastest Nitro Harley rider, Mark Drew hit me up and told me to pull my finger out and get onto introducing a new Flash-Femme to Australia. It’s just the motivation I needed to hook up with South Aussie, Tara Morrison via Zoom after a big day in the Fearless workshop.
What do you do when you’re not racing?
“I’ve started a YouTube channel maybe six months ago. And it’s all like behind the scenes stuff, you know, like of me, my dad, my partner and my mom at the shop. Footage of me working on my bike before going to the track. And even the drive there and talking in the pits not just the pretty posts on Instagram at the end of the weekend saying how I did, and people love it, they love the behind the scenes, actual authentic ‘I dropped a bolt’ or whatever. I know from the comments and people messaging me to say “I really liked that view of it”.
What is your biggest motivator for your racing?
“My motivation is that, I don’t want to delve too much into the fact that I’m a female in the male dominated sport, but my first ASBK round was the first time that somebody asked me to sign a poster that was a little girl, and she said that she’d started doing dirt biking. I think I gave her a knee slider with my autograph on it, it was incredible. And, just doing that at my first ASBK round where I qualified last I think that gave me the motivation, because she was really excited to meet me and sit on my bike. And I just feel like I’m doing something for, you know, girls in sport and, trying to convince them that they can make a start and make them feel like they can win and be on the podium too, against the boys.”
“And every time that someone’s like, oh, you came second, good job. And my dad’s like, “Yeah, against the boys”. Like, “Oh what?! Against the guys as well?”.
“Yeah, that kind of fills me up a little bit and makes me want to do the younger girls proud.”
“I remember walking around the pits when I was younger with my dad and never seeing any girls there. And now I’ve made heaps of friends who are girls who ride and we all support each other and want to see each other do our best.”
“I’m thinking in the future, I want to be like, a figure to someone, because I don’t have many female motorsport racers or anything to look up to.”
“I want to be that for somebody else and also getting on the podium in the ASBK just recently. That’s made a massive difference to how I approach races now and made me feel like I can prove myself further, I can just do better. And, I’ve always been a really competitive person. I always like to challenge myself too.”
“I just want to be better than I was the day before. And I feel like racing is a really good indicator for it, you know? It’s really easy to tell, even with lap times or, looking at your speed angle and seeing what your lean angle compared to others or, your results in races or like opportunities that people are giving you, it’s easy to see your progress sometimes when you look back, it’s easy to say at the moment it’s hard because you know, it is what you have now.”
“But looking back at my first round of the ASBK at Phillip Island, a year and two months ago, I qualified 25th with a 1.547. And then the round just gone by compared to my first round, I qualified second with a 1.494, so five seconds faster. “
“Now I’m just thinking, how about next year. Can I qualify first with a .485 or whatever? I like that and I really want to challenge and be better than I was the day before.”
Let’s talk about what it feels like to go racing?
“My whole life is pretty much centred around racing. I work at a motorbike shop and I work to earn money for my racing. And then I train after work for my racing, and then I write résumés or, edit my YouTube videos or make social media posts for my racing and then go to sleep and I think about racing.”
“Leading up to a race weekend, I feel excited. Usually I feel I prepare myself, so I feel confident and so I feel ready. You know, I feel like the best way to go into a race weekend is to set yourself up as good as you can, you know? So I do everything that I can, even when I don’t want to do it. But then when it gets close, I get really excited to go once I’m on my way there. That’s when the nervousness and stress sometimes sets in.”
“But the first session that I get on my bike, it usually all goes away. And then I just think about me on the track, doing the best I can.”
“I usually put a lot of pressure on myself and, yeah, once I get on the bike, it all goes away pretty much. And I just think about the track and the seven laps I have to do and just to do my best. That’s what you can do.”
“And then afterwards, it depends how well I did, but, the last round was my best result in the ASBK and I felt ecstatic. And I had done better than I did before. And I felt proud of myself. And I felt proud of the people around me because, everyone does heaps to support me and helps me like just focus on my racing pretty much, which is really good.”
“I try to set myself up as best as I can and give myself the confidence and assurance to know that I’ve done my best to get ready for it and that I’ve put my all into it and whatever comes out of it, good or bad, is a step forward.”
What challenges have you faced around your racing?
“Challenges. I can’t tell if there’s been none. There’s been so many that I can’t think of one.”
“Maybe trying to balance everything. Trying to balance being a racer, and being a worker and organising things for my racing, and making sure I make posts on time and making sure I’m getting enough training in.”
“And that’s probably the biggest challenge for me, is trying to give myself enough free space to be able to do everything, which gets a bit overwhelming sometimes, but that’s probably my biggest challenge.”
“Other challenges? Mechanical. I haven’t had to worry about mechanical challenges or anything cause my dad’s a fully qualified mechanic, and he does all my bike stuff, and everything is always perfect.”
“Societal, being a female on social media in motorsports is a bit interesting sometimes. But I don’t let that affect me. And, I think I’ve gained a bit more respect as well from other racers in the pits. Before they wouldn’t talk to me and wanted to stay out of my way. But now I think that I’ve proved myself to be a bit of an actual competition, I think they’re starting to respect me a bit more. But I really think I haven’t faced many challenges, at least compared to other people.”
“When I feel a bit hard done by, it’s just motivation again, you know? A bit earlier on I was like, it’s it’s because I’m a girl, and Dad was like, ‘no, it’s because you’re a good racer’. Any challenge that I feel face I like to invert it, to convert it into motivation usually. But, I’ve been pretty lucky. I have been faced with too much adversity, or anything like that. So it’s been alright.”
Let’s talk about your accomplishments, you got a podium in your last race…
“Yeah, that’s probably my biggest accomplishment. That I’m most proud about that I reckon. My first national podium. And I was only 12 thousandths off of the win, but I was also like four thousandths off coming fourth. So, I think of that as a positive. You know, I could have got fourth just as easily as getting first. So, hey, I’m happy with second.”
“Me and the guy that came first were so neck and neck that when we crossed the line, we both looked at each other and celebrated together. And at that moment, I didn’t care if I came first or second, you know, to be that close to the front is just a really good feeling.”
“My Mum filmed the start and she filmed me at the front and then all the way past the other people as well. To think that I was back there like a year ago. I just I felt so happy to be at the front and it was really good to have a clear track in front of me for a little while. It’s a great feeling. Scary. But great.”
“I led half a lap. And that was really freaky. I felt like I almost didn’t belong there, but being at the front pack is really great, and it feels really rewarding. Like a little a small, little tick in the box for all the hard work that me and my supporters, my family have put in it. Yeah, it feels really reassuring. So that’s probably my best accomplishment.”
“Other accomplishments? It’s hard for me to grade my accomplishments other than just like podiums or anything like that.”
How did racing start for you?
“When I was 16, my dad bought me a 250 for my sweet 16 present. And I didn’t ride it for months because I almost wasn’t interested. I’ve been brought up around motorbikes my entire life. My parents met doing stunt riding together, and mum’s always owned a bike and my dad’s always owned heaps and works on bikes.”
“So it’s been there my whole life and then one day I was like, oh, let’s just take it for a ride.”
“We went to a little go-kart track and I was wearing my mum’s leather jacket and jeans, and then they were like ‘stop, stop, stop’ and I was like, ‘oh no, what?’ and they said ‘you need to come out here in leathers’ and then, we went back the next week and I got my knee down my second time riding a road bike. Then I was like, ‘all right, this might actually be something’.”
“So I just did like club rounds for a year and trained. Then people who were really high up in the industry, like Davo Johnson and, Billy McConnell started taking interest in helping me out and that really quickly developed my skills.”
“It all started so quickly. This is my third proper year of racing, pretty much, that is not just club rounds, first year I did club, then I did state and then I did ASBK. So this is my fourth full year of racing but my third year of proper racing because the first year doesn’t count.” Tara grins sheepishly writing off her rookie season.
Was Dad your first coach?
“My dad hadn’t had much racing experience, but he knew a lot about the bike and, you know, the basics of what to do. My dad coached me for a little while, but then really quickly, Davo, David Johnson, who raced in the 2023 Isle of Man TT (C&L Fairburn Properties Jackson Racing Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade Superbike and CBR600RR Superstock), he really quickly started helping me out, taking me to Port Gawler and doing coaching days with me.”
“That’s what really quickly amped it up I reckon. Just going out and going around and around and around so many times I think. I taught myself some things too. But yeah, mainly my dad coaching me for a little while and then Davo helping me and now it’s just about pushing my own limits, because I think I’ve got the basis.”
“And that’s also the other thing Davo said about me, I completely trusted him, because I had almost no experience on a motorbike, so anything he told me I went out and just did it. He told me that some of the people he had hesitated or said they were doing it when they weren’t, but I just completely put all my trust into him and did it. And that made me learn a bit quicker, I think than I would have otherwise. I just I relied on him a lot and I’m really thankful I did because he still coaches me to this day. I’m very lucky.”
Almost like you didn’t have a fear barrier to try something new, so you don’t have to unlearn that.
“My dad’s motorbike shop’s called fearless, by the way.” Tara grins
“But I also thought of another accomplishment. I was really. I was just thinking, because this was the thing that probably made me the most, that I probably feared the most was going international to race. I went to, yeah, I went to the Netherlands. Davo went overseas for his first time 20 years ago with the same guy who picked me up to go overseas as well.”
“I raced at Assen TT circuit. That was incredible. I raced against world class riders, like the top 20 people were all racing in the worlds and there racing the IDM (Internationale Deutsche Motorradmeisterschaft), just for like a past time. And I was like, holy shit. It was massive for me.”
“But that was a really big accomplishment going over there. And I learnt so much about the telemetry of the bike and I actually got to see a computer of where I was braking and my suspension, and that was a big eye opener, and that made me a much, much better racer, having a whole new view I didn’t even think of. And going over there and racing amongst world class riders, that was incredible.”
“Going overseas in the middle of my debut year of national racing, I was pretty proud that I had secured the opportunity and that the team were really happy with how I did. And the team still talked to me and helped me out to this day.”
“And their team came over to Phillip Island to race 400s, as they raced six hundreds in the World Championship.”
“So they brought the guy who came sixth in the World SuperSport 300 and raced him against me.”
“He actually followed me in qualifying and that’s why he qualified first. They were all really proud of how I did. And I got to stand on the podium with a world class rider at Phillip Island, who’s a part of the team that I raced for [in the IDM]. Connecting with people overseas and making relationships with them, that feels like a really big accomplishment, too. And a really good starting point for where I want to take my racing, which is definitely to Europe and overseas as well.”
“I don’t want to limit myself to opportunities because new opportunities come around all the time, like before the opportunity to race at Assen, I wasn’t even thinking about racing internationally. And then boom, it popped up in my face, you know?”
“So opportunities arise and new teams and championships, but to race world class in a women’s dominated championship like the new one there is now, or even like amongst the guys, which is probably preferably what I want to do. That would be amazing.”
“Otherwise the Isle of Man TT, to be the fastest woman around the TT would be incredible. Jenny Tinmouth is one of my biggest idols. I’ve looked up to her. She’s the fastest woman to go around the TT. So to get that record would be incredible. Because my type of racing is very fast. I like fast corners when I have to use the brakes I don’t like it, because it makes me go slow, I like the tracks that are really fast and smooth. I’m a big fan of like the Isle of Man.”
“Yeah, I like speed. So it would be to race the Isle of Man that’s definitely like years ahead, but next, next week, you know, I want to I want to complete this ASBK championship and to be possibly even on the podium and to come third, second or even first, for my second year that’d be incredible.”
“I’m sitting fourth at the moment, four points behind third. So if I finish my second year of the ASBK, on the steps in a championship, that would be awesome. But yeah, I’m racing almost every single week weekend. So just doing the best I can. And to be on the steps in the championship is like an end goal for this year. So to race world class. That would be incredible in the future, racing Assen in the IDM championship. But I’d also love to race in the BSB. That would be crazy. That would be awesome or Isle of Man.”
“They’re all different opportunities. And maybe next year I might try out for the World Championship too, the Women’s World Championship.”
“This year I wanted to get more of a base level. You know, I haven’t been racing for very long, so I wanted to just be more of a well-rounded racer before I step up to that level. That’s something that I like to feel prepared and confident going into things. You know, if I did it this year, I wouldn’t feel like I had the ability to be at the top.”
“I just need to learn my foundation as a racer. And I think racing with guys is a bit more tight knit and would make me a better racer quicker. And personally, I care more about my personal achievements compared to what sounds cool on paper.”
Who do you value the most and why?
“My family. My dad works full time and he also does all my mechanic work and set up for the rounds. My family, like my partner, my Mum and my Dad mainly I value. They just make my life easier. They take tasks from me that I would be doing, they take it and do it for me, which is great.”
“I also value, this might sound a bit cliche, but I also really value my sponsors, having the faith in me and trust and they are putting in money into my racing that they could be using for their own business and allowing me to go forward because without them, I wouldn’t do it at all. So I really, really value my sponsors and my family. If I didn’t have them, I would be nowhere. They put a lot of faith into me and trust. And I try my best to give back to them as much as I can.”
What is the thing that you always/never do?
“I’m a little bit superstitious, it’s something that I can’t stop. I don’t like that about me at all. But I always, always have to put my left glove on first. So like, my mum will have my helmet and my gloves out ready for me and she’ll pass you my helmet, I’ll put my helmet on and then she’ll give me my right glove, ‘Oh, sh*t. Sorry. No wrong one’. Like everybody knows it about me that I have to put my left glove on first.”
“I’ve done it ever since I can remember. And I feel it now. If I was mess it up and I put my right one on. Yeah, I’ve crashed a hundred times putting my left one on first. But still I just, you never know, never put my right one on first. But it feels really silly. But now it’s just something that I can’t get myself out of.”
“But, I never do, I never do…”
Fear.
“I try not to. I sometimes do let it creep in, but I like to say that I never let it affect me. But sometimes I do. I never. I was going to say I never give up. That sounds very cliche, but I don’t, like it in a race.”
“A couple of months ago, it was an ASBK race and I was like sixth or something. So I was doing pretty well and I nearly crashed and I went back down to like 24th or something, but I was still on my bike, and I think I made my way back up to like eighth or ninth or something. And that reminded me that I actually don’t give up.”
“Like I’m really set in my ways. And if I feel like I’m out on track and I’m in a qualifying session or something and my times are getting sketchy, I kind of I used to let it affect me. I’d come in or I would, you know, just be like, oh, whatever. But now I think I’ve gotten past that stage where, honestly when I’m on the track, I just like, keep going and keep going and going and going as hard as I can. And I just put everything I can out on the track now, like I used to not do that, but now I don’t know what it was that affected me, that made me change.”
“But when I’m on the track, I just give 110% from the second the bell rings to when I’m riding into pit lane and I just go full ‘never give up’. Very cliche.”
Are you happy?
“I am happy. I never really thought I’d be doing this like when I was in high school.”
“I hadn’t started riding yet, and I thought I wanted to be a nurse, and I was about going to get into university to study to be a nurse.”
“When I wanted to be a nurse, I kind of felt like that’s just something I should do.”
“But since starting to ride, it’s something that I’m good at and something that I’m actually passionate about and something that I think I actually have the ability and the opportunity to do really well at it.”
“I just want to see myself do the best that I can. And I’m proud of what I’ve done so far. But I have goals, you know, little goals and big goals that I want to keep ticking off and just making myself proud.”
“And it’s fun. You know, it’s hard. It’s really, really hard work. But I don’t shy away from that either. But I just put in so much effort and work and then see results out of it. That’s makes me really happy.”
“Yeah, something I’m good at and something. Yeah, that’s just like, ‘oh, you’re a motorbike racer that’s sick’.”
“I didn’t even know it was something that I wanted, I didn’t even think about it for a second, like in high school. And then once I rode and people were like, ‘you’re okay’. I just I loved it from the get go pretty much. I’m really passionate. I love every aspect about it. You know? I love the community, I love racing, I love working on my bike and I find it fun.”
“I think people give me lots of opportunities, which I’m very grateful for. I like to make myself proud and make other people proud too. I think I’ve done a good job of that and I want to continue doing it.”
Are you where do you want to be?
“I think the first answer that came into my head is that I’m putting all my energy into the ASBK right now. To be very literal I’m fourth in the championship behind, two ASBK riders and one World Superbike rider. He’s the guy that was racing for that IDM team, so I’m fourth in the championship. But by the end of this year, I want to stay up at the very pointy end, and I want to be on the podium by the end of the year, that is a goal that I’m setting for myself. And that’s where I want to be, and that’s where I am right now.”
“I’ve l looked back at last year and from January 2023 to December 2023 has a massive leap. So I’m just hoping that I can continue that momentum in my racing progress. And I’m just really excited to see where I am in December this year.”
What is the best advice you’ve been given about your racing?
“I reckon my dad telling me to have fun.”
“I think because I am definitely one to overwhelm and put a lot of pressure on myself. But every time that I go out on the bike, I go out with my dad to take my tyre warmers off and then when I’m riding out, he always pats on the back, and he always says, ‘have fun’.”
“But when it’s midnight and I’m working at the shop for the fifth night in a row trying to get my bikes ready for a weekend, I’m like, ‘this is fun’. You know, I get to actually do this and I get to go interstate on the weekend and do a road trip with my partner and race my bike around Phillip Island. And I just try to keep telling myself to have fun.”
“And when I’m out on track, to have fun.”
“Yeah, I reckon that just Dad saying ‘have fun’ is probably the best advice and I think everything else I’ve kind of forced into myself, ‘do your best’ or ‘do this’ or ‘work hard’ or, you know, ‘be a good, personable figure’ or like all that stuff I’d tell myself to do. But Dad always just says, ‘have fun’. And I think that helps me chill out and actually go out there and live in the moment.”
Can we talk about your helmet?
“I’m number 95 because of Anthony Gobert, he raced in the World Superbikes on a Kawasaki too. And, yeah, he’s one of my biggest idols. He was really he was a great racer, but he was also a really personable person. And he tried to actually make racing really fun. He actually had a personality that was genuinely into racing motorbikes, I believe.”
“I really liked that he was. It was really cool. I so wish I could have met him, he raced in America too, on a red Ducati. One of the reasons why my bike is red. And why our number is 95.”
“His favourite track was Phillip Island, just like me. So that’s also pretty cool. But he recently passed away. And that was a tribute I wanted to do for him.”
“In the first two races, I wore my normal Shoei helmet. And then in the last race, I decided to wear that painted helmet that, Troy at Nightmare Designs, one of my sponsors, painted up for me. Which I also helped him with and stayed back at the shop for days painting it up.”
“That’s the helmet he wore when he was racing his 95 bike. But I kind of gave it a bit of a Tara flair, you know, it’s a bit like sparkly and a bit more silver leaf and everything. And like, bling. Yeah, a bit bling. I love it. I love it so much, that helmet. But, in the last race, I decided to wear that helmet and I got a second, so it kind of feels like. I don’t know, he was helping me out?”
And the Grinning Dingo?
“The Grinning Dingo, his name is Marcus. He works for my Shoei supplier and he services my helmet. That’s what his own business is, ‘The Grinning Dingo’. So after I race, I take my helmet to him, and he cleans it and makes sure the pin locks are on, makes sure my visor is on properly. And if I need a new one, he’ll swap it or any tear offs he’ll put new ones on, anything like that. So that’s what he does. And he also helps me out with my sponsorship with Shoei which is the only helmet I can wear, as my head is an extra, extra small.”
“I’ve tried other helmets, and some of them don’t change their shell size. So, the internals will be extra, extra small, but the shell size of an extra large helmet and it just makes me look bobblehead. It looks ridiculous. And yeah, the Shoei fits my head really nicely. So Shoei are my favourite helmets to wear.”
“If I could say something about myself. I like to keep it real. Like my YouTube channel and that keeps me authentic, I think, and keeps me level headed. I like to just live in the moment and be honest and try my best.”