KIWI RIDER 10 2018 VOL.1 | Page 16

However, the following morning it all became a little more serious, with riders keen to use the separate endurance races as part of their warm-up regime for the upcoming road-race season. Local favourite Scott Moir was the fastest off the start line after the shotgun blast had signalled the start to Sunday ' s premier three-hour race, but 25-year-old Whakatane man Mitch Rees wasted no time, hunting down the Taupo man and snatching the lead near the end of the first of what would eventually become a 104-lap affair. The Moir and Daniel Mettam( Glen Eden) rider combination ended up slipping to third position at the 90-minute( half-race) distance and eventually settled for fourth overall at the chequered flag. Meanwhile, the Sloan Frost( Wellington) and Bailie Perriton( Asburton) pairing fought their way through to claim the runners-up spot, while 23-year-old Damon Rees, co-riding with Manukau ' s Toby Summers, earned third step on the podium. All those leading riders were on 1000cc bikes, apart from Summers, who raced a 600cc machine. Hamilton ' s Jordan Burley and Greymouth ' s Ashton Hughes, both riding 675cc bikes, claimed fifth overall, finishing two laps behind the Moir / Mettam combo. " My team-mate Mitch( Rees) produced faster lap times than me, and Sloan Frost showed a bit of pace too, pegging me back near the end of the race, but also I was conserving my tyres at that stage and not wanting to take any risks," said Tony Rees. " I didn ' t want to throw away all the good work and just did what was needed to win it. This weekend was my first time racing since I crashed and injured myself at Manfeild last December, so I wasn ' t exactly race fit anyway," said the 50-year-old from Whakatane. " The weekend was not really about winning this race. For me, it was just important to see people enjoying themselves and the fantastic racing was a bonus." Co-winners of the earlier two-hour, under- 600cc race were Whangamata ' s Ben Rosendaal and Auckland ' s Mat Dunlop, crossing the finish line nearly a minute ahead of rival team Michael Patchett( Auckland) and Alex Butson( Kawakawa). " It was a good turn-out for the ride day on Saturday. It was popular and I think the success of the weekend means there will likely be a few more entries in the endurance races next year too," said Tony Rees. Rees heads off to Australia shortly, where he will revert to the role of manager / mechanic for his two sons while they both compete in the seventh and final round of the Australian Superbike Championships at Phillip Island, near Melbourne. " Damon is running fourth overall in the 600cc supersport class in Australia, while Mitch is running 15th in the superbike class, despite missing a round of the series. Mitch finished ninth at the previous round and we ' ll be looking for another good result." After the weekend ' s two-day extravaganza at Taupo, the Honda Track Days will continue with three separate events at Hampton Downs – on December 1, February 23 and April 27.

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