Mitch Rees knows the final two rounds of the Star Insure New Zealand Superbike Championship will be no easy road to success.
The current superbike class leader and former champion, who finished the first two rounds in the South Island with a near-perfect win record – five out of six – is focussed on regaining his No1 plate.
“I just need more of the same at Hampton Downs this weekend and Taupo the following week,” Rees says.
“I just want to lock up the championship. That’s the plan.”
While he could mathematically achieve that this weekend, he knows nothing is certain.
“There are six races left and anything can happen in racing. I see the championship being decided at the final round.”
One of those who will be making life as difficult as possible on the track is his father Tony.
The wily campaigner and multi-New Zealand champion lies just 49 points away in third place in the series.
Rees, a Whakatane motorcycle dealer, is riding a 2024-specification Honda while his father is on an earlier model.
“The new bike has some slight aero changes and we have made gains in suspension set-up.”
However, he acknowledges the threat posed by his two Yamaha rivals, Al Hoogenboezem, of Auckland, and Dale Finch, of Christchurch, sitting second and fourth in the points respectively.
“Al is just 39 points behind and I believe both will be closer to matching me when they get to Hampton Downs,” Mitch Rees says.
“I’m riding at the limit and while I know there are some smaller gains to be made, Al and Dale have probably already worked out where they can get closer to me.”
In addition to three Superbike races over the weekend, both rounds will also feature seven other championship categories, including sidecars.
Riders in three of those classes will be going into this weekend, carrying over perfect win records from the South Island rounds.
Husband and wife Yamaha riders Jake and Avalon Lewis, who recently became parents and are now based in Brisbane, lead the Supersport 600 and ProTwins classes respectively.
Avalon is using the New Zealand series as an essential build-up for her six-round Women’s World Championship campaign, which runs in Europe from April through to October.
She will be joined in that series by Carl Cox Motorsport team-mate Billee Fuller, the Taupiri teenager currently lying second in ProTwins class points.
Luke Ryder, who recently moved from South Auckland to Hokitika, heads the SuperTwins class, riding an Aprilia, and is the third rider defending a perfect win record.
Series promoter Mike Marsden is also enthusiastic about the two smaller categories, the Supersport 300 and Supersport 150 championships, which are dominated by fiercely competitive young riders, male and female.
“These riders are the sport’s future and they’re making sure we know about it,” Marsden says.
“They take no prisoners and aren’t afraid of swapping paint.”
Marsden is also keen to acknowledge the entertainment value of the sidecar class.
“These crews made the long trip south and are now back in more familiar territory and with numbers boosted for the final two rounds.
“I have no doubt they will be crowd-pleasers.”
- Saturday 8 March & Sunday 9 March from 9am, Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Hampton Downs Road, Te Kauwhata.
