HONDA’S REES A YOUNG
MAN IN A HURRY
T
o see Bay of Plenty’s Mitchell Rees race a
motorcycle is perhaps to take a glimpse
into the future. The 24-year-old Honda rider
from Whakatane is starting out on only his
second season of motorcycle road-racing
and, despite his relative novice status, Rees
is second in the premier Superbike class standings
at the halfway stage of the 2018 nationals.
His 50-year-old father, Tony Rees, is the 2017
national superbike champion, but an injury
sustained while racing in December means he’s
now restricted to viewing from the sideline.
To see his eldest son so effortlessly “taking up the
baton” must be a huge source of pride for him.
The second of four rounds of the 2018 New
Zealand Superbike Championships was held at
Timaru’s Levels Raceway and young Rees again
found himself fighting for the championship lead.
Though this was only his first ever visit to the
Timaru track, Rees showed he was a quick
learner, qualifying his Honda CBR1000SP1
fourth fastest, less than a second slower
than the man who was quickest, 36-year-old
former national champion Sloan Frost.
Rees then stepped up the pace, setting the
fastest time in race one on Saturday, although he
did have to settle for fourth at the finish line.
He then twice finished runner-up, on both
occasions behind Suzuki rider Frost, the following
day and that earned him a solid grasp of the
No.2 spot in the championship standings.
Wellington’s Frost won the weekend and
leads Rees by 24 points as they prepare now
for round three of the series at Hampton
Downs in March, and Rees is quietly confident
that he can chew into Frost’s advantage.
Third in the standings is Glen Eden’s Daniel
Mettam (Suzuki), 15 points further back.
“I’d definitely like to get my first win,” said
Rees, who has come so agonisingly close to
scoring a race win this summer. “We’ll get
there eventually. I’m still learning this sport.
“I don’t think I’m fit enough yet and I will work
on that over the coming weeks. We have a bit
of a break now before the next round and I’ll
92 KIWI RIDER
use that time. There’s a lot of strain on the body
riding these machines at speed. Trying to change
direction at the end of a 300kmph straight, and
still make the corner, can be quite difficult.
“But I’m pretty stoked with how I’ve been going.
I had never been at the Timaru track until the
weekend, so there was a lot for me to learn.
The series heads to the North Island now and
I’m much more familiar with those tracks.
“I’m second in the championship chase
and the title is not beyond my reach.
“I have an awesome team behind me, not
just mum and dad, but the whole crew and
my (younger) brother, Damon, too.”
Mitch Rees will race the opening round of the
Australian Superbike Championships at Phillips
Island on February 24-25, that event sharing
the programme billing with the opening round
of the World Superbike Championships.
“It will be cool to go over and have
a dabble at that,” he laughed.
Rees finished sixth overall in his debut
season of New Zealand superbike racing
in 2017 and, if his form continues he could
at least halve that number in 2018.
Mitchell Rees