It’s been a season of new beginnings for Des Collier, who decided to return to the 410 Sprintcar fold after eight seasons on the sidelines, and it’s recently been made clear that his team certainly don’t do things by halves, having also purchased the entire Titan Racing outfit.

Growing up around Sprintcar racers Steven White and Tim Garrett, a foray into speedway was always something that Collier wanted to pursue.

However, rather than following the natural progression of a junior racer into senior competition, contesting a number of classes along the way, the Narangba, Queensland resident decided to skip the regular initiation, stepping straight into the Sprintcars class in 2004 at the age of 16, off the back of no prior experience.

Purchasing a 360ci-powered Avenger chassis that he’d purchased from the Tulloch Racing team, Collier eventually transitioned to a 410ci engine, with his half a dozen seasons in Sprintcars being highlighted by a top-10 finish in the 2006 Australian Open, along with collecting multiple heat-race wins during World Series Sprintcar rounds.

Choosing to step away from driver duties at the end of the 2010-11 season to focus on the family business Collier’s Crane Hire, Collier didn’t wander too far from the sport of speedway, helping out Speedcar and Sprintcar racer Brett Thomas, who also happens to be his father-in-law, in a pit crew capacity.

It wasn’t until early in the New Year period that Collier began to consider taking back up his place behind the steering wheel, following the announcement that the prestigious Titan Racing team would be closing its doors permanently after a 25-year legacy in the sport.

It was then that Collier’s acquisition of the entire team took effect, with the 30-year-old driver recently making his debut aboard the Qld # 36 Sprintcar in the 12th East Coast Logistics Series round at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway following a shakedown run during a practice session earlier this month.

“It’s been a long time out of the driver’s seat for me but it definitely felt good to be back,” enthused the 30-year-old driver.

“There’s been a lot happening since we purchased the Titan Racing team at the beginning of the year and plenty to adjust to. We wanted to get some track time in the new car ahead of our first full season in it, so we’ll be trying to learn as much as we can in order to prepare ourselves and hopefully get the 2019-20 season off to a good start.”

For the remainder of the 2018-19 season, Collier plans to contest the rest of the schedule at Archerfield Speedway in preparation for his first full season aboard his new car in 2019-20.

Collier would like to give special thanks to Collier’s Crane Hire, along with his dad Jon, his wife Brittany, and former Titan Racing team manager Dean McComb.

Photo: Matthew Paul Photography