SUPERBIKES Mitch Rees , the national superbike No . 1 , collected his first major silverware of the 2023-24 motorcycle racing season on Boxing Day , the racing on Whanganui ’ s Cemetery Circuit registering as the third and final round of the 2023 Suzuki International Series , the competition first started in 2008 and now just finishing its 15th season . For the benefit of those who may be factchecking those statistics , the series finale was rained out in 2012 and the series was cancelled completely in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Anyway , the two-rider Motul Team Rees Honda outfit – comprising reigning New Zealand superbike champion Rees and his multi-time former national champion father Tony Rees – had been almost unstoppable in the early part of the 2023 contest . The duo finished the opening round of 2023 ’ s combined Suzuki International Series / New Zealand Superbike Championships first and second overall at a rain-affected opening round in Taupo at the start of December and then backed that up with another solid showing at an equally damp round two in the Manawatu a week later . All that remained was for them both to maintain that momentum for at least one of them to earn their first major series win of the 2023-24 season when they raced at the third and final round of the Suzuki International Series on Whanganui ’ s famous Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day . And that ’ s just what happened .

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