It could not have gone any better for Bay of Plenty’s defending champion Mitch Rees and his multi-time former motorcycling champion father Tony Rees.
The dynamic duo took their Honda motorcycles to totally dominate the premier class at the opening round of the annual Suzuki International Series in Taupo at the weekend.
The father and son team-mates from Whakatane were untouchable as the three-round series kicked off at the Taupo International Motorsport Park facility on the outskirts of the popular tourist town.
Just a week shy of his 33rd birthday, multi-time championship-winning rider Mitch Rees was in scintillating form at this first round of three in the series, taking his stock standard 2024-model Honda CBR1000RR-R bike to three convincing wins at the two-day event.
And to make his trip into the winners’ circle even more special, he had his 58-year-old father Tony Rees there to join him in podium celebrations for the premier formula one/superbike class.
With a 1-2 result from the pair each time, these two men again sent a chilling reminder to their rivals that they’ll need to dig a little deeper because this was almost a carbon copy of the dominance the Rees men enjoyed in this same series last season.
There was little to separate these world-class riders at the series opener on Saturday and Sunday, but Mitch Rees did seem to have an edge over all the others on what he describe ed as a “weirdly slippery track”.
With round one now under his wheels, Mitch Rees knows he’s on target to make it five F1/superbike titles in a row in this series. He won the premier class also in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 (the series was not run in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
“It was a great way to start the series. I’m aiming to make it five titles in a row and that’d be pretty cool thing to do,” said Mitch Rees.
“I’ve had a big year of international racing, so I’ve gained a bit more experience. I won this year’s New Zealand Superbike Championships, my third title in a row in that competition. And then, a couple of weeks later, I was off to the UK and racing at the Isle of Man TT. In addition, I rode a couple of rounds of the British Superbike Championships and also the Northwest 200 in Northern Ireland.
“I returned back home at the end of June and, since then, I have been working hard in my bike shop business in Whakatane. The whole crew there have been great, and I wouldn’t have been able to do this without them.”
Tony Rees was also feeling upbeat after his weekend at Taupo.
“It’s great to see Mitch win. It doesn’t bother me at all getting beaten by him. If I’m getting beaten by my boy, then it means I’ve done my job,” he laughed.
“He rode well and I never was going to have the pace to run with him.
“The Honda CBR1000RR-R was great. It’s absolutely stock-standard, straight out of the crate. We just put fuel in it. It’s a nice bike to ride and anyone could buy one of these bikes and go racing with it.”
All the riders now head to the Manawatu for round two of the series at Manfeild, on the outskirts of Feilding, this weekend coming up (December 13-14).
The series will wrap up, as usual, with the world-renowned Cemetery Circuit public street race event in Whanganui on Boxing Day, including the Robert Holden Memorial feature race, a prestigious race that was won by Mitch Rees in 2022, 2023 and 2024, by his late brother Damon Rees in 2020 and by their father Tony on seven occasions (between 1990 and 2016).
Meanwhile, other class winners at Taupo at the weekend were Auckland’s Cameron Leslie (formula two/supersport 600); Silverdale’s Tyler King (formula three); Silverdale’s Tyler King (supersport 300); Wellington’s Malcolm Bielski (formula sport, senior, over-600cc); Whanganui’s Jeff Croot (formula sport, junior, up to 600cc); Auckland’s Paul Pavletich (Pre 89 post classics, senior, over-600cc); Auckland’s Scott Findlay (Pre 89, post classics junior, under-600cc); Te Awanga’s Eddie Kattenberg (Pre 95, post classics junior, under-600cc); Upper Hutt’s Keiran Mair (Pre 95, post classics senior, over-600cc); Panmure’s Adam Unsworth & Whanganui’s Bryce Rose (F1 sidecars); Whanganui’s Tracey Bryan & Jo Franzen (F2 sidecars); Whanganui’s Richie Dibben (supermoto).
DATES FOR 2025 SUZUKI INTERNATIONAL SERIES
- Round 1, Taupo, Dec 6-7;
- Round 2, Manfeild, Feilding, Dec 13-14;
- Round 3, Whanganui’s Cemetery Circuit, Dec 26.
Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
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