time the nationals were raced there , in 2018 – on that occasion also celebrating his first ever Superbike class win – and it seems remarkable that , just three years later , winning these races is now something we might expect of him . Mitch Rees had finished runner-up in the Superbike class in 2018 , again proving there is something very special indeed about the Rees DNA . For two years in a row , Damon Rees has finished the series with the most superbike race wins to his credit ( five wins in 2020 and five also in 2021 ), but it just goes to shows it ’ s sometimes just as important to have luck as it is to have talent . Mitch Rees won two races and Hoogenboezem won two also , proving again that consistency is what matters most .
SUPERSPORT 600 It was a stand-out series also for Whanganui ’ s Richie Dibben ( Suzuki ), the 2020 Supersport 600 champion making his debut in the Superbike class . Although he also craved a little more luck after crashing in race one ( and breaking three ribs ) at round one of the series at Christchurch , injury also forcing him to miss round two at Timaru ’ s Levels International Raceway , but he bounced back at Taupo . He finished third on one of the three Superbike races at Taupo and showed he has the pace and ability to be up with the leaders next season . Meanwhile , there were first-time title winners in other classes too – Christchurch ’ s Dale Finch arrived at Taupo with a massive 32-point lead over Upper Hutt ’ s Rogan Chandler in the Supersport 600 class , but he still had to endure spirited assaults from Chandler , Taupiri ’ s teenage 600cc class debutante Zak Fuller and Rangiora ’ s 2019 600cc champion Avalon Biddle before he could eventually claim the Supersport 600 title . “ This is my first title on a road-race bike . I ’ ve won national speedway titles in the past ,” said the 30-yearold Finch . “ I ’ ve been racing road bikes for about three years now . I felt I could go faster than what I was riding , but I had to hold back a bit and just bring it home . “ I could see all the chaos happening on the track ahead of me and glad I wasn ’ t caught up in that ,” he said , referring to the weekend ’ s final 600cc race which
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