organisers anticipate it reaching even greater heights next December . It couldn ’ t have gone much better for sibling rivals Mitch and Damon Rees . Damon Rees dominated the premier Formula One / Superbike class at Whanganui ’ s finale , the 25-year-old celebrating back-to-back wins in the F1 class , but he also backed that up with a stirring start-to-finish win in the 10-lap Robert Holden Memorial feature race that followed . If it weren ’ t for an uncharacteristic crash while leading his race at the first of three rounds in the series , in Taupo at the start of December , then he should probably have won the series outright . But in a three-round , six-race series , a rider can ’ t afford to drop points like that and this allowed his ever-consistent elder brother and Honda team-mate Mitch Rees to take maximum advantage . Mitch Rees celebrated his maiden F1 / Superbike class win in race one at the second round of the series at Manfeild and this set him up for a thrilling final push at Whanganui . The just-turned 28-year-old Mitch Rees finished third and fourth in his two F1 / Superbike races at Whanganui , enough to win the series overall by five points from Moir , and Mitch Rees then lifted the tempo another notch to finish a close runner-up to his brother in the feature race as well , finishing less than a bike length behind and actually surpassing Damon Rees by setting a new Whanganui track record in the process . The performances of the Rees brothers on Boxing Day was reminiscent of the feats of their father , Tony Rees , who was on hand at Whanganui to act as mechanic and mentor to his sons . Tony Rees is a record seven-time winner of the Robert Holden Memorial feature race at Whanganui , taking the trophy there in 1990 , 2000 , 2001 , 2002 , 2014 , 2015 and 2016 . Tony Rees also won the F1 class overall in the Suzuki International Series in 2016 . “ It was a bit of a dream come true for me ,” said Damon Rees afterwards .
Whakatane ’ s Damon Rees interviewed after winning at Whanganui ’ s Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day