Rees still the man to beat at Wanganui

EXPERIENCE TELLS: Whakatane's Tony Rees (Honda CBR1000RR) was in scintillating form on Boxing Day.PHOTO/ANDY MCGECHAN, BIKESPORTNZ.COM 261214WCREES

Bay of Plenty ace Tony Rees, who claimed the Robert Holden Memorial trophy on the Cemetery Circuit on Friday, has now held that prize aloft across three different decades.

Honda man Rees, from Whakatane, was sensational at the scorching-hot third round of the annual Suzuki Series on Boxing Day on the feared and respected Wanganui circuit.

The 47-year-old took his Honda CBR1000RR to set the fastest lap in qualifying - 50.04 seconds with a speed of 115.683km/h - then snatched victory in the day's opening Formula One/Superbike race, setting the tone for the rest of the day.

Although he was narrowly beaten to the finish line by Taupo's Scott Moir in the day's second F1 race, the best was still to come in the signature Robert Holden Memorial feature race, the jewel in the crown for any self-respecting rider on the programme.

No stranger to winning in a street environment, Rees gave a master class to his younger rivals, albeit eventually claiming victory by less than a second from Wanganui's Jayden Carrick and New Plymouth's Hayden Fitzgerald.

"I got the holeshot and led every lap," said Rees.

"I knew the other riders were there behind me and Jayden Carrick was trying to line me up for a pass in the Robert Holden corner on the last lap, but he was going to have to do a death or glory pass to get by me.

"I felt comfortable in the feature race and with a clear track ahead of me, I was able to go even faster than I had in qualifying."

The win made it the fourth time Rees has won the main prize at this iconic event - his first Robert Holden race victory coming 24 years earlier in 1990 - and the last time he won the race was 13 years ago in 2001.

Meanwhile, visiting Austrian rider Horst Saiger wrapped up the overall series in the F1 class with conservative third and fifth placings in his two F1 outings, while he finished fifth in the stand-alone Robert Holden race.

But that title victory was also remarkable given the series was Saiger's first race trip to New Zealand and he had not previously seen any of the Kiwi circuits prior to racing on them.

Other class winners for the series were Manukau's Toby Summers (F2 600cc class), Taumarunui's Leigh Tidman (F3 Sport bikes), Feilding's John Oliver (Bears - non-Japanese bikes), Tauranga's Duncan Hart (Super Moto), Marton's Jason Hulme (Junior Pre 89 Post Classics), Te Awanga's Eddie Kattenberg (Senior Pre 89 Post Classics), and Waikato's Aaron Lovell and Tracey Bryan (F1 sidecars).