By BOB PEARCE
One prominent name was missing when entries closed for the New Zealand TT motorcycle races at Pukekohe this weekend.
Tony Rees, at 35 still one of our most competitive road racers, will miss the national championship.
"I haven't missed many TT meetings, but I haven't got a bike this time," he said. "I took my 2002 Yamaha R1 to Australia and the new model isn't due here until March.
"I'm also really busy with the Whakatane Christmas Summercross. I'm president of the Bay of Plenty Motorcycle Club and this is a really big event for us."
The Summercross will be staged at the club's Awakaponga course, 20km west of Whakatane.
Rees has mixed motocross with road-racing during the winter. Riding a Yamaha YZ450, he won the veterans' motocross championship.
On his R1 he was among the leaders in the two rounds of the Formula Xtreme class in Australia.
Rees is not sure if he will have the time to compete in the Summercross because of his responsibilities as an organiser.
But there is another Rees raring to go. His 10-year-old son, Mitchell, was a winner at the national mini-motocross championships in Nelson on a 60cc bike.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from Sport
Winners and Losers: Why Schmidt is the man to win Australia back Bledisloe
OPINION: The former All Blacks assistant has already made an impact across the ditch.