It was a hectic, drama-filled series and it could also have so easily ended up with his 57-year-old father, Tony Rees, joining him on the podium, an incredible son-and-father 1-2 result for the championship, until bad luck intervened and a rare crash sent Tony skidding down the track on day one at Taupō on Saturday.
Tony withdrew from the rest of the event after that, explaining he had been unwell all week anyway with a virus.
Instead, it was Christchurch’s Alastair Hoogenboezem who finished the series runner-up to Mitch Rees, with superbikes class rookie Rogan Chandler, of Upper Hutt, claiming third overall and, even though absent for the final two superbike races on Sunday, Tony Rees still earned fourth overall.
In all, Mitch Rees won 11 of the 12 superbike races over the four rounds and he had done enough after winning Saturday’s sole superbike race to earn the title, with Sunday’s two races to spare.
His only “failure” in the series was in race one at round two at Timaru when a wrong tyre choice caused problems, and he opted back off his pace and “not risk in one race any chance of maybe eventually taking the title” later on.
He was satisfied to finish runner-up to Christchurch’s Dale Finch in that one race.
“I knew that I just had to play it safe and just pocket some good points,” Rees explained.
“The title win was comfortable in the end. I had won the title in 2023 with an entire round to spare, but it was a six-round series that year.
“It was a much shorter series this year, so to still win the title with two races to spare is pretty cool too.
“I guess you could say I’m at the peak of my powers at the moment, but I do still think I can go faster.
“I credit dad Tony and my younger brother Damon (who sadly died in June 2023, aged only 28, due to an unexpected illness) for getting me to where I am today, plus the support from my mum and my wife too.”
It is a tribute to his brother Damon that Mitch Rees ran with the No 92 on his Honda, the number previously raced by Damon.
“It is because of Damo that I got into racing road bikes. I was racing motocross and wasn’t even thinking about doing road racing until I went to work as a mechanic for Damo.
“I broke my leg quite badly doing motocross in 2013 and so, when I was healed up, I switched to racing road bikes. They’re both very physical sports, but in different ways. Racing motocross you feel like you’re being beaten up all the time, but road racing is all about battling the G forces, changing direction from left to right and when you’ve got more than 200 horsepower and a 200-kilo bike to rein in. It can be very demanding.
“I’ll be back to try to defend my title next year and, as long as I still enjoy it, I’ll carry on. To be honest, though, I don’t see me still racing at the top level like Dad has this season as a 57-year-old,” he said with a laugh
– Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
