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Eleven years after he first entered the New Zealand Superbike championship, Tony Rees finally claimed the crown at Pukekohe today.
\"That\'s the one I wanted,\" the Kawerau racer, 33, said at the end of the Motorcycle Trader championship series. \"I don\'t usually celebrate much, but we will tonight.\"
Rees earned the long-awaited championship the hard way in two exciting races today, scoring a first and a third with his Yamaha R1 against a bunch of more powerful Suzuki GSX-R1000s.
He started the meeting just ahead of Suzuki\'s Andrew Stroud (Christchurch) and Shaun Harris (New Plymouth) on points, but worried that their extra power would tell down the long back straight at Pukekohe. Indeed his bike was slower there but he made up for it by riding harder in the corners.
Rees had finished second in the Superbike championship five times. This year was probably the first time he had a fully competitive bike to race in the premier class.
Stroud\'s chances evaporated when his bodywork came loose in race one and made the bike unstable. Rees put everything into it and beat Harris to put himself in the box seat for the title.
Harris won the final race just ahead of Stroud, Rees and Ray Clee on another Suzuki, but that placing was exactly what Rees needed to clinch the title from Harris.
Stroud gained some consolation as he won the Open Sports Production championship after taking a pair of seconds on his other Suzuki, behind Clee who is always fast on his home track. Rees, who had held the title for the last five years, finished second overall for Yamaha.
Reigning superbike champion Dean Fulton (Mt Maunganui) was concussed when he crashed his Kawasaki ZX-9R in a Production race, and had to miss the rest of the meeting.
Harris won the Formula Two and 600cc Sports Production titles on his Suzuki GSX-R600, at the end of possibly his last championship season in New Zealand before he retires. He won both the F2 races from team-mate Dennis Charlett (Palmerston North), but in the other class just did enough to turn his big points lead into the championship and Charlett recorded two fine victories.
Jason Easton of Foxton won his first national title, taking the 125cc GP class after a first and second on his Honda RS125. His defeat by Bruce Godfrey (Napier, RS125) in race one was his only loss of the season in this class.
Riding the same bike, Easton also finished second in the Formula Three championship behind Andy Bolwell (Oamaru), who gained his second title on his Kawasaki ZXR400. Veteran Terry Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) won both races on his Suzuki GSX-R400.
Sidecar champions Aaron Lovell and Philip Duthie of Hamlton roared away with both their races thanks to the power of their Suzuki 1100 engine, but a second and third gave Colin Buckley (Auckland) and Darren Abrahams (Gisborne) the title.
Motorcycle Trader New Zealand road-racing championships, final round, Pukekohe
Superbike Race one:
Tony Rees (Kawerau) Yamaha R1, 1; Shaun Harris (New
Plymouth) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2; Ray Clee (Auckland) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 3;
Dean Fulton (Mt Maunganui) Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 4; Brian Bernard (Wanganui)
Suzuki GSX-R1000, 5.
Race two:
Harris 1; Andrew Stroud (Christchurch) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2; Rees
3; Clee 4; Bernard 5.
Final points:
Rees 154.5; Harris 151.5; Stroud 141; Clee 88; Fulton 81.
Formula Two Race one:
Harris, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1; Dennis Charlett
(Palmerston North) Suzuki GSX-R600, 2; Andrew Bretherton (New Plymouth)
Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Race two:
Harris 1; Charlett 2; Bretherton 3.
Final Points:
Harris 175; Charlett 156; Paul Gee (Auckland) Yamaha R6, 88.
Formula Three Race one:
Terry Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) Suzuki GSX-R400,
1; Jason Easton (Foxton) Honda RS125, 2; Andy Bolwell (Oamaru) Kawasaki
ZXR400, 3.
Race two:
Fitzgerald 1; Easton 2; Bruce Godfrey (Napier) Honda RS125, 3.
Final Points:
Bolwell 154; Easton 144; Fitzgerald 123.
Open Sports Production Race one:
Clee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1; Stroud, Suzuki
GSX-R1000, 2; Rees, Yamaha R1, 3.
Race two:
Clee 1; Stroud 2; Rees 3.
Final Points:
Stroud 175; Rees 159; Clee 104; Dave Cole (Auckland) Ducati 996, 92.
600cc Sports Production Race one:
Charlett, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1; Clee,
Suzuki GSX-R600, 2; Bretherton, Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Race two:
Charlett 1; Clee 2; Corey Oxenham (Mt Maunganui) Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Final Points:
Harris, Suzuki GSX-R600, 156; Charlett 151; Oxenham 128.
125cc GP Race one:
Godfrey, Honda RS125, 1; Easton, Honda RS125, 2; Brent
Symes (Hastings) Honda RS125, 3.
Race two:
Easton 1; Godfrey 2, Glenn Hayward (Christchurch) Honda RS125, 3.
Final Points:
Easton 195; Symes 122; Hayward 108; Godfrey 101.
Sidecars Race one:
Aaron Lovell/Philip Duthie (Hamilton) Suzuki 1100, 1;
John Blaymires/Nick Ives (Te Puke) Kawasaki 1000, 2; Colin Buckley
(Auckland)/Darren Abrahams (Gisborne) Yamaha 1000, 3.
Race two:
Lovell/Duthie 1; Buckley/Abrahams 2; Blaymires/Ives 3.
Final Points:
Buckley/Abrahams 181; Lovell/Duthie 175; Spike Taylor/Dennis Simonsen
(Masterton) F17 1100, 103.
