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- By Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
Nobody had an answer for Honda’s father and son duo at the opening round of the 2025 New Zealand Superbike Championships in Southland last weekend.
Included again this year as part of the week-long annual Burt Munro Challenge spectacle in Southland, the first round of four in the 2025 New Zealand Superbike Championships (NZSBK) at the Teretonga Park race circuit was a happy hunting ground for several riders, none more so than Bay of Plenty men Mitch and Tony Rees.
A two-time former New Zealand champion in the premier 1000cc Superbike class, 32-year-old Mitch Rees took his Honda CBR1000 to qualify fastest.
He then found himself battling with his 57-year-old father Tony at the front of the field over both days at Teretonga.
“I finished 1-1-1 in the three superbike races and it ended up a Honda 1-2 finish overall, me and dad, for the opening round of the series – that’s pretty good,” Mitch Rees says.
Christchurch’s Alastair Hoogenboezem was forced to settle for third overall for the weekend.
“This sets us up nicely now for the remaining rounds, with this Friday and Saturday at Timaru coming up next on the schedule,” Mitch Rees says.
“I go well at Timaru and got the lap record there last year, so I’m looking forward to racing at Levels International Motor Raceway.
“I didn’t manage to better the lap record I set at Teretonga last year, but then weather conditions didn’t really help here.
“The track was damp early on, it was cool and never really heated up.”
As for Team Rees Honda’s elder statesman Tony Rees, he reports he got “beaten up a little bit” in the third and final superbike race at Teretonga, but he was still satisfied to claim second overall with a 2-2-3 scorecard for the weekend.
“I made a few mistakes and dropped from second to fourth at one stage but managed to grab third place back in the final corner.
“There was only one guy who beat me overall … and I helped produce him,” he laughed.
“I might be the oldest superbike class rider out there, but I’m loving every minute that I ride a bike, be it a dirt bike or a road bike, so I’m not thinking of retirement just yet.”
Meanwhile, other national championship class winners at Teretonga at the weekend included Christchurch man Jake Lewis (Supersport 600 class); Auckland’s Tyler King (Supersport 300 class); Christchurch’s Avalon Lewis (née Biddle) (Pro Twins 650 class); Hokitika’s Luke Ryder (Super Twins class); Taupo’s Karl Hooper (Superlites); Whangarei’s Lincoln Wright (Supersport 150 class) and Gisborne’s Phillip Law with Angus Ravenwood (sidecars class).
The series now travels a few kilometres north to the Levels International Motor Raceway, near Timaru, this coming Friday and Saturday.
It then crosses Cook Strait to arrive at Hampton Downs, near Meremere, for round four on March 8-9 and wraps up at Taupo with round four on March 15-16.
