Kawerau’s Tony Rees clinched the New Zealand Superbike championship at Pukekohe on the weekend, after a hard fought battle with Christchurch’s Andrew Stroud and New Plymouth’s Shaun Harris.

Rees was elated to bring his Yamaha R1 home ahead of the more powerful Suzukis. "I’m rapt, it is the one I wanted, I have finished second five times and third twice before. We will definitely celebrate tonight!" Rees said after his win."

This championship was no cake walk, Rees won it the hard way, he came into this last round with a 1.5 points lead over Stroud and 7 points in front of Harris, who had crashed at round three. 

Race one saw, Rees take the lead from the start and although the Suzukis of Harris and Auckland’s Ray Clee had more power down the back straight, Rees made up for it, ride that much harder through the tighter parts of the circuit, to take the win.

Rees main challenge, which was expected to come from Stroud, evaporated when his fairing broke loose soon after the start and he was only able to score at seventh.

Race two, produced some of the best racing seen this season. Rees and Harris battled for the lead for the first half of the race, they where then joined by Stroud and the race finished with Harris taking the win, with Stroud second and Rees third, exactly where he needed to be to clinch the title. 

Stroud gained some consolation by taking the Open Sport Production championship, a title Rees has held since its inception five years ago. Yesterday saw Clee take two wins, Stroud two second places and Rees two thirds. Giving Rees second overall on his Yamaha. 

Results and Final Points Standings

Superbike 
Race one: Tony Rees (Kawerau) Yamaha R1, 1; Shaun Harris (New Plymouth) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2; Ray Clee (Auckland) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 3; Dean Fulton (Mt Maunganui) Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 4; Brian Bernard (Wanganui) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 5.
Race two: Harris 1; Andrew Stroud (Christchurch) Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2; Rees 3; Clee 4; Bernard 5.
Final points: Rees 154.5; Harris 151.5; Stroud 141; Clee 88; Fulton 81.

Formula Two 
Race one: Harris, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1; Dennis Charlett (Palmerston North) Suzuki GSX-R600, 2; Andrew Bretherton (New Plymouth) Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Race two: Harris 1; Charlett 2; Bretherton 3.
Points: Harris 175; Charlett 156; Paul Gee (Auckland) Yamaha R6, 88.

Formula Three 
Race one: Terry Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) Suzuki GSX-R400,  1; Jason Easton (Foxton) Honda RS125, 2; Andy Bolwell (Oamaru) Kawasaki  ZXR400, 3.
Race two: Fitzgerald 1; Easton 2; Bruce Godfrey (Napier) Honda RS125, 3.
Points: Bolwell 154; Easton 144; Fitzgerald 123.

Open Sports Production 
Race one: Clee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1; Stroud, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2; Rees, Yamaha R1, 3.
Race two: Clee 1; Stroud 2; Rees 3.
Points: Stroud 175; Rees 159; Clee 104; Dave Cole (Auckland) Ducati 996, 92.

600cc Sports Production
Race one: Charlett, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1; Clee, Suzuki GSX-R600, 2; Bretherton, Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Race two: Charlett 1; Clee 2; Corey Oxenham (Mt Maunganui) Suzuki GSX-R600, 3.
Points: Harris, Suzuki GSX-R600, 156; Charlett 151; Oxenham 128.

125cc GP 
Race one: Godfrey, Honda RS125, 1; Easton, Honda RS125, 2; Brent Symes (Hastings) Honda RS125, 3.
Race two: Easton 1; Godfrey 2, Glenn Hayward (Christchurch) Honda RS125, 3.
Points: Easton 195; Symes 122; Hayward 108; Godfrey 101.

Sidecars 
Race one: Aaron Lovell/Philip Duthie (Hamilton) Suzuki 1100, 1; John Blaymires/Nick Ives (Te Puke) Kawasaki 1000, 2; Colin Buckley (Auckland)/Darren Abrahams (Gisborne) Yamaha 1000, 3.
Race two: Lovell/Duthie 1; Buckley/Abrahams 2; Blaymires/Ives 3.
Points: Buckley/Abrahams 181; Lovell/Duthie 175; Spike Taylor/Dennis Simonsen (Masterton) F17 1100, 103.

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