Motorcycling: Whakatāne's Damon Rees wraps up 600cc title

Whakatāne's Damon Rees was outstanding again on his 600cc Honda, winning the F2 title with a race to spare on Boxing Day. Photo / Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

Whakatāne's Damon Rees produced another scintillating performance on Boxing Day, reaching what he hopes will be one of several pinnacles this season.

The 23-year-old could not quite emulate the unbeaten performances he produced at the first two rounds of this year's pre-nationals Suzuki Series. However, after a restart because of other riders crashing, he was eventually credited with second in the opening Formula Two (600cc) race on Whanganui's Cemetery Circuit, which was enough to claim the F2 title.

Then, with no pressure on him, Rees won the final race of the series anyway, underlining his F2 dominance in the three-round, six-race series.

"I wouldn't say that I rode with nothing to lose in that second race. I just went out and did what I would have done in the first race if it hadn't been mucked up by the restart. I had a clear track ahead of me in race two and that makes so much of a difference around here.

"So, five wins and a second place for the series' six races ... and all but one pole position, so I've got to be happy with that. I missed out on getting pole here by one-tenth of a second.

"This was officially my last race on a 600cc bike. That's the plan anyway. If a 600cc ride were to come about I'd take it, but it's just 1000cc superbikes for me now.

"I've raced the 600cc bikes for a number of years now (winning the national Supersport 600 title in 2017) and showed I'm dominant with a standard motor. I have learned a lot from racing in Australia this year and I'll head on now to the superbike nationals and just campaign the CBR1000 and try to win on that."

There was double reason for the Rees family to celebrate on Boxing Day as patriarch Tony Rees showed, even at the age of 51, he was far from a spent force. The Kiwi legend won the Formula One Superbike class overall at Whanganui.

He has won multiple national titles, many Cemetery Circuits and numerous races at the similar but now defunct Battle of the Streets event in Paeroa.

Tony Rees finished fourth in the day's first of two F1 races at Whanganui, then he stormed into the lead in race two, winning that by a healthy three seconds from Wellington's Jay Lawrence.

Those two results were enough to earn Rees the F1 class title overall in Whanganui and boost him from seventh to fifth in the final series standings.

Visiting British rider Peter Hickman, the 31-year-old 2018 Isle of Man champion, won the event's signature Robert Holden Memorial feature race, a race that Tony Rees opted to sit out as a headache struck him just before the start.

Tony Rees is a seven-time former winner of the Robert Holden Memorial feature race, his last win coming just two years ago, in 2016.

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