The 2025 Star Insure New Zealand Superbike Championship which wrapped up last weekend in Taupo produced a remarkable number of “firsts” – some unlikely to be bettered.
Kiwi motorcycling power couple Jake and Avalon Lewis became the first husband and wife to win individual championship titles on the same day: Jake on a Yamaha in the Supersport 600 class and Avalon on a Yamaha in the ProTwins category.
Jake Lewis also became only the second rider to complete a clean sweep of 12 championship race wins from 12 races in the four-round series.
The first to achieve the feat was Aprilia rider Luke Ryder, just a few hours earlier, in the SuperTwins class.
Ryder dominated the class from the opening round at the Burt Munro Challenge in Invercargill in February.
Avalon Lewis came close to matching her husband’s stats, finishing with an 11 out of 12 win record and rounding out her stunning season with a pole position, three wins and a lap record at Taupo.
She and ProTwins runner-up Billee Fuller are now preparing to leave next month to contest the Women’s World Championship in Europe.
In the sidecar class, Burt Wolland and Vaughan Maine became the first rookie crew to win a New Zealand Championship after Maine took up the passenger role at the first round, having initially entered the series as a solo rider.
Another to finish the season with lap records and 11 wins was Honda rider MitchRees, who claimed his third Superbike title.
Rees is due to announce details of the next stage in his career, which would point to racing overseas.
In addition to the Lewis’, Ryder, Rees, Wolland and Maine, three other new champions were crowned last weekend.
The stand-out young rider this year was 19-year-old Tyler King, who won the Superlites category and contested the 300 Supersport class, standing on the championship podium 20 times during the series.
Unsurprisingly, King was named the inaugural winner of the Cormac Buchanan Trophy for outstanding performances by a young rider.
Results from the 150 and 300 Supersport Championship remain subject to official confirmation; Nixon Frost (Yamaha) and Cameron Leslie (KTM) are named provisional winners respectively.
