Champ eyes glamour class

Whakatane's Damon Rees is going places, very fast indeed. He has the 600cc title in his grasp and now perhaps the superbike crown will be his next.

The 21-year-old celebrated winning his first New Zealand Superbike Championship title at the fourth and final round of the 2017 series at Hampton Downs just over a week ago, taking his Honda CBR600RR to win the 600cc supersport class with a solid and mature performance.

And he's now looking ahead to racing a 1000cc version on the bike in the glamour superbike class next season.

Rees had started the weekend at Hampton Downs in a difficult position. He was trailing his main rival for the 600cc title, close friend Shane Richardson, by 20.5 points, although that large buffer existed only because Rees had suffered tragedy at round two of the series at Teretonga, near Invercargill, when he crashed out of the opening 600cc race there.

But, when Wainuiomata's Richardson (Kawasaki ZX-6R) inexplicably crashed in the final race of the weekend at Hampton Downs, that buffer disappeared and Rees had the title.

Both young men probably deserved to win this year, battling alone at the front and sharing race wins, but, inevitably, there can be only one champion.

Magnanimous and gracious in victory, young Rees showed he was as much a champion off the track as he was on it, offering heartfelt praise and admiration to the fellow rising star who had been doing so much to try to beat him all season.

"This was not the way I wanted to win the title," said Rees. "I made a mistake in the early part of the season and Shane [Richardson] made one at the end.

"In my eyes, he is a champion, too.

"He's an awesome dude and puts in so much hard work. We pushed each other to the limit.

"I knew the title was in the bag for me when I saw Shane was down in the dirt, so I backed off and played it safe to bring the title home."

The writing had already been on the wall for Rees to win a national title, the Bay of Plenty man proving himself championship material at other major events this season.

His formula two class title win at the pre-nationals Suzuki Series indicated that it was just a matter of time before he would mirror that result at the nationals.

Rees and Richardson were blisteringly fast all season, running at a pace that would qualify them among the top five in the 1000cc superbikes class.

This resulted in Rees breaking 600cc lap records at Ruapuna and Hampton Downs, and Richardson breaking 600cc laps records at Teretonga and Taupo during the course of the national series.

Richardson was philosophical in defeat.

"I made a mistake, simple as that," he said. "It was a little bit slippery on the exit of turn three and I got spat out of the seat.

"I don't know how I managed to stay with the bike. I tried to wrestle it out of the gravel, but it wasn't to be."

Whakatane's Damon Rees is going places, very fast indeed. He has the 600cc title in his grasp and now perhaps the superbike crown will be his next.

Whakatane's Damon Rees, New Zealand’s 600cc supersport champion for 2017. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

The 21-year-old celebrated winning his first New Zealand Superbike Championship title at the fourth and final round of the 2017 series at Hampton Downs just over a week ago, taking his Honda CBR600RR to win the 600cc supersport class with a solid and mature performance.

And he's now looking ahead to racing a 1000cc version on the bike in the glamour superbike class next season.

Rees had started the weekend at Hampton Downs in a difficult position. He was trailing his main rival for the 600cc title, close friend Shane Richardson, by 20.5 points, although that large buffer existed only because Rees had suffered tragedy at round two of the series at Teretonga, near Invercargill, when he crashed out of the opening 600cc race there.

But, when Wainuiomata's Richardson (Kawasaki ZX-6R) inexplicably crashed in the final race of the weekend at Hampton Downs, that buffer disappeared and Rees had the title.

Both young men probably deserved to win this year, battling alone at the front and sharing race wins, but, inevitably, there can be only one champion.

Magnanimous and gracious in victory, young Rees showed he was as much a champion off the track as he was on it, offering heartfelt praise and admiration to the fellow rising star who had been doing so much to try to beat him all season.

"This was not the way I wanted to win the title," said Rees. "I made a mistake in the early part of the season and Shane [Richardson] made one at the end.

"In my eyes, he is a champion, too.

"He's an awesome dude and puts in so much hard work. We pushed each other to the limit.

"I knew the title was in the bag for me when I saw Shane was down in the dirt, so I backed off and played it safe to bring the title home."

The writing had already been on the wall for Rees to win a national title, the Bay of Plenty man proving himself championship material at other major events this season.

His formula two class title win at the pre-nationals Suzuki Series indicated that it was just a matter of time before he would mirror that result at the nationals.

Rees and Richardson were blisteringly fast all season, running at a pace that would qualify them among the top five in the 1000cc superbikes class.

This resulted in Rees breaking 600cc lap records at Ruapuna and Hampton Downs, and Richardson breaking 600cc laps records at Teretonga and Taupo during the course of the national series.

Richardson was philosophical in defeat.

"I made a mistake, simple as that," he said. "It was a little bit slippery on the exit of turn three and I got spat out of the seat.

"I don't know how I managed to stay with the bike. I tried to wrestle it out of the gravel, but it wasn't to be."