With three wins from four starts, it’s probably fair to say that Bay of Plenty rider Damon Rees was the most dominant individual racing at Taupo’s Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park on Sunday.
The Team Rees Racing Honda man impressed by taking his Carl Cox Motorsport-backed Honda CBR600RR to qualify fastest and then win both races in the Formula Two (600cc) class at this opening round of three in the pre-nationals Suzuki Series, setting a new lap record in the process.
On both occasions he finished ahead of fellow Kiwi international Avalon Biddle, from Waimakariri, with Manukau’s Toby Summers claiming third overall for the day.
Then, perhaps even more remarkably, Rees qualified fastest in the 1000cc Formula One Superbike class and then celebrated his maiden race win in the class as well.
Rees’ elder brother, Mitch Rees, took his Team Rees Racing Honda CBR1000SP1 to win the first of the day’s two F1 races, but it was 23-year-old Damon who stepped up to win the next race, his first ever victory on a superbike.
“Mitch celebrated his first superbike race win here at Taupo last year and now it was my turn,” said an elated Damon Rees afterwards.
“Maybe there’s something about the Rees family and this track, eh?” he smiled.
Unfortunately for the two Rees brothers, they were both unable to finish one of their two F1 outings – Damon ran off the track in the first F1 race and, because he was deemed by a marshal to have dropped the bike, he was not permitted to continue; Mitch failed to start the second F1 race when his bike threw a chain during the warm-up lap.
Instead, it was Wainuiomata’s Shane Richardson who was credited with the overall win in the F1 class, his back-to-back runner-up finishes giving him the points advantage, with Taupo’s Scott Moir taking the runner-up spot and Rangiora’s Jake Lewis completing the F1 podium.
“Back-to-back wins in the F2 class was awesome … that was certainly my plan at the start of the day,” said Damon Rees, the 2017 national Supersport 600 champion.
“I earned pole position and I was reasonably comfortable winning those races. Avalon (Biddle) was riding exceptionally, I lot better than I expected her to be riding and she certainly pushed me to begin with. But I had just the little bit more.
“The first time I’d hopped back on a 1000cc superbike was only about three weeks ago. First race didn’t finish so well for me but the second one did. I holeshot the race and led from start to finish. So that was three wins from four starts for me today … we’ll just quietly forget about the one where I got no result.”
Damon Rees will complete this series racing both classes, but, for the upcoming nationals, he will concentrate solely on the superbike class.
“I’m feeling so at home on the superbike now and I think I’m only going to get faster.”
The riders now head to Manfeild (on the outskirts of Feilding) for round two of the series this coming weekend. The series wraps up with the riders tackling the world-famous Cemetery Circuit in Whanganui on Boxing Day.
After that it will be the five-round 2019 New Zealand Superbike Championships that will command their focus, the series kicking off at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch, on January 5-6.
Other class leaders in the 2018 Suzuki Series after Sunday’s first of three rounds are Palmerston North’s Jacob Stroud (F3); Hamilton’s Jesse Stroud (GIXXER Cup); Whangarei’s Duncan Coutts (Post Classics, Pre-89, Senior); Auckland’s Scott Findlay (Post Classics, Pre-89, Junior); Auckland’s Brendon Coad (Bears, non-Japanese bikes, Seniors); Te Awamutu’s Gary Morgan (Bears, non-Japanese bikes, Seniors); Tauranga’s Duncan Hart (Super Motard class); England’s John Holden and Tauranga’s Robbie Shorter (F1 Sidecars); Tauranga’s Barry Smith and Tracey Bryan (F2 Sidecars).
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