across the Tasman . It all came down to tyre selection for that deciding last showdown . The track had been drenched with rain just an hour or so prior to the final superbike race of the series and Rees opted for wets ( rain tyres ) for the decisive race , while West chose intermediates and , as the track was now drying out rapidly , this proved to be the right choice . The pair exchanged leads several times over the first few laps , but West then exploited his extra grip and began to break away , while Rees ’ rain tyres began to deteriorate . Rees had won the dry opening Superbike race of the weekend on Saturday by 2.4 seconds from West . The Kiwi hero then won the wet second race on Sunday by 1.3 seconds . West won the final race on the rapidly-drying track on Sunday by a whopping 22.8 seconds from Rees . West was naturally elated with his series and title win . “ This is what we came here to do . To be honest though , I didn ’ t think I could get the job done . The title could have gone to either of us really ,” said the 42-year-old Brisbane man . “ It ’ s been really tough and he [ Mitch Rees ] fought me the whole way . I ’ d like to come back and defend the title , but it ’ s been a very expensive campaign . We may need one or two
Upper Hutt ’ s Rogan Chandler ( Suzuki GSX-R600 ), winner of the New Zealand Tourist Trophy title this season and also winner of the inaugural Damon Rees Memorial trophy . Here he receives the New Zealand Junior TT trophy from host Auckland Motorcycle Club secretary Trevor Heaphy ( left )
more sponsors .” Rees was philosophical about his defeat . “ I gave it my best . Obviously , we made the wrong tyre choice , but that ’ s part of racing . My wets got overheated and he just got faster [ with his intermediate tyres ] as the track dried out . “ It ’ s 100 percent that I ’ ll be back next year for another crack ,” said the 31-year-old from Whakatane .
SUPERSPORT 600 Upper Hutt ’ s Rogan Chandler has been on titlewinning pace all season and finally reaped his just rewards at the final round of this season ’ s New Zealand Superbike Champs .
30 KIWI RIDER