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MARCH 8, 2007: At the grand old age of 39, Whakatane’s Tony Rees may be considered an old timer these days, but a man who has won eight national titles still commands respect wherever he goes.
The Yamaha motorcycle dealer makes a surprise comeback to racing this weekend, after a two-year hiatus, but he insists it shouldn’t cause too many ripples when he lines up at Pukekohe on Sunday for the fifth and final round of the New Zealand Motorcycle Road-race Championships.
“I’m probably going to get my backside spanked by the young riders,” said Rees. “I’m nearly twice the age of (600cc sports production class points leader) Sam Smith and I imagine I’ll be watching his tail as he disappears into the distance on Sunday.”
Yamaha’s Smith is 32-points clear of Australian Scott Charlton (on an almost identical Yamaha R6 machine) in the 600 sports production class standings and, barring major disaster, Smith should collect his first national title on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Rees will loan two bikes from former rival Brian Bernard (Wanganui) for the weekend’s “bit of fun”, a 1000cc Yamaha R1 to tackle the production superbike class and a Yamaha R6 to enter the 600 sports production category.
“I’ve been off the track for two years now but I’m looking forward to the weekend. As a one-off appearance, there’s no pressure on me to perform and I truly think I’ll struggle to match the pace but I don’t think I’ll finish at the back.
“The bikes I’m borrowing are certainly fast enough to be competitive but it’s just a matter of me indulging myself and having a bit of fun. It’s not really a comeback. I’ll ease back into retirement again on Monday, probably feeling a bit stiff and sore.”
When Rees retired at the end of the 2005 season, he went out on top, as the national superbike champion.
