The men from Honda came on strong at the third and final round of the 2015 edition of the annual Suzuki Series pre-nationals motorcycle competition on Boxing Day.

And they weren’t just any Honda riders, they were father and son first-time team-mates Tony and Damon Rees, the dynamic duo from Whakatane creating a buzz on the closed-off public streets of Whanganui as they both rocketed up the championship ladder with remarkable individual performances.

The father, 48-year-old Tony, was again the top man on the famous Cemetery Circuit, winning both Formula One Superbike races and then dominating the Robert Holden Memorial feature race as well, making it an amazing six times that he has been the main winner on the Whanganui streets.

He won the Robert Holden crown last season as well, only this time his dominance was even more comprehensive.

“I won three races from three starts this year … better than last year .. so you could say it was a good day,” he smiled as he uttered the classic understatement.

“I had a great bike today. The Honda CBR1000RR was awesome. I had some really bad starts, but managed to put it all together in the end. In the Robert Holden race I managed to pass (Auckland’s) Toby Summers for the lead on lap one and then just pulled away from the bunch.”

He won that race by nine seconds from visiting Liechtenstein rider Horst Saiger (Red Devil Racing Kawasaki ZXR-10R), with Summers (on another Kawasaki ZXR-10R) claiming third spot, another nine seconds further back.

These results were enough to see Rees climb from third in the series standings to finish second overall, just 2.5 points behind eventual series winner Sloan Frost (MC2 Racing Fujitsu TSS Red Baron Suzuki GSX-R1000) and ahead of defending champion Saiger.

Rees’ 20-year-old youngest son Damon was also on the way up at Whanganui, taking his Honda CBR600RR to challenge for honours in the Formula Two 600cc Supers class.

He rode out onto the unforgiving street circuit for the first time this year, circulating in what they call the virgins’ practice session at the start of the day, familiarisation time for the event’s first-timers.

But, when he then surprised everybody by finishing third and sixth in his twoF2 races proper, he suddenly found himself second in the final series standings, equalling the achievement of his father in the F1 class.

The F2 class was eventually won by Glen Eden’s Daniel Mettam (Team RCM Suzuki GSX-R600), finishing the series 12.5 points ahead of newcomer Rees.

The father and son Rees team now prepare for the four-round New Zealand Superbike Championships, which kick off at Ruapuna, on the outskirts of Christchurch, on January 10.

Other class winners for the Suzuki Series were Auckland Gavin Veltmeyer (F3 sports bikes, GVR645); Te Awanga’s Eddie Kattenberg (post classics seniors, pre-89, Bimota YB8S); Hamilton’s Shayne Lawrey (post classics juniors, pre-89, Yamaha FZR600J); Raglan’s Robert Whittall (Bears, juniors, non-Japanese bikes, Aprilia SXV550); Feidling’s John Oliver (Bears, seniors, BMW S1000RR); Tauranga’s Duncan Hart (Super Moto, Yamaha YZ450F); Britain’s Tim Reeves, Tauranga’s Robbie Shorter and Britain’s Mark Wilkes (sidecars, LCR Kawasaki ZXR-10R).

© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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