    |
 |
|
|
|
Photo - Tony Rees and the R1 lead at Pukekohe:
Photo courtesy of Andy McGechan:
Email Andy: He may have a photo of you in his extensive files?
Yamaha NZ - Press Release:
That’s how you’d describe Tony Rees and his Yamaha R1 as they combined to wrap up the superbikes class at the New Zealand Motorcycle Road race Championships at Pukekohe’s final round on Sunday. The Whakatane motorcycle dealer was a notable absentee from the superbike scene last season but made his return in the 2004-05 season a triumphant one when he picked up the country’s premier road race trophy at the weekend.
The Pukekohe tarmac had been only recently resurfaced and finding grip on the greasy surface was a problem for many riders, but the Yamaha R1 gave Rees all the traction he needed to finish 2-1-3 in his three outings, easily enough to win the title, 18 points clear of his nearest rival, Suzuki star Andrew Stroud.
“It was a good weekend for me. I was in a tight four-way battle for the lead in the first race (on Saturday) and nearly pipped Andrew on the finish line. But second was okay. In the next race (the first of two races on Sunday), I led from start to finish … simply ran away from them.
“The last race was an odd one. It was stopped after only three of the scheduled 15 laps and they awarded half points. I was running fourth at the time. Then, it was restarted and we had the remaining 12 laps. I was second at the end of that but they gave an aggregate result for the two partial races and that gave me third for the last race. It was pretty weird.
The 37-year-old married father-of-two has previously won five national sports production titles, a 600cc sports production crown and one superbike title (in the 2000-01 season) during a long and illustrious career and finished fourth in the superbike class when he last rode, in the 2002-03 season.
All that remains now is for Rees’ 2004-05 season superbike title to be officially confirmed -- the final standings in this class are only provisional after Stroud appealed his disqualification from one race at the previous round at Manfeild, when it was alleged he passed Rees under a yellow flag.
“I just hope common sense prevails. Andrew should not have passed me under a yellow flag. That’s one of the cardinal rules of racing. We’ll just have to wait and see what Motorcycling New Zealand does with the appeal.
“I’ve won but I don’t feel like I have. It’s a real shame to end this way.”
Full results are @ MyLaps.Com:
