2025 New Zealand Superbike Championships
Round One – Invercargill
By Andy McGechan
Included as part of the week-long annual Burt Munro Challenge spectacle in Southland, the first round of the 2025 New Zealand Superbike Championships (NZSBK) at the Teretonga Park Race Circuit, near Invercargill, had no answer for the father-son duo of Mitch and Tony Rees.
32-year-old, two-time New Zealand Superbike champion, Mitch Rees took his Honda CBR1000 to fastest qualifying, only to find himself battling his 57-year-old father Tony at the front of the field over both days of racing. Alastair Hoogenboezem settling for the final step of the overall podium.
Mitch Rees
“I finished 1-1-1 in the three superbike races and it ended up a Honda 1-2 finish overall, me and dad, for the opening round of the series. That’s pretty good. This sets us up nicely now for the remaining rounds, with this Friday and Saturday at Timaru coming up next on the schedule. I go well at Timaru and got the lap record there last year, so I’m looking forward to racing at Levels International Motor Raceway. I didn’t manage to better the lap record I set at Teretonga last year, but then weather conditions didn’t really help here. The track was damp early on, it was cool and never really heated up.”
Elder statesman Tony Rees, reported that he got “beaten up a little bit” in the third and final superbike race at Teretonga, but he was satisfied to claim second overall with a 2-2-3 score-card.
Tony Rees – P2
“I made a few mistakes and dropped from second to fourth at one stage but managed to grab third place back in the final corner. There was only one guy who beat me overall … and I helped produce him,” he laughed. “I might be the oldest superbike class rider out there, but I’m loving every minute that I ride a bike, be it a dirt bike or a road bike, so I’m not thinking of retirement just yet.”
Alastair Hoogenboezem – P3
“I’m really happy with how the Yamaha YZF-R1 bike is performing and how I am going. We are there and thereabouts, where we weren’t at the Suzuki Series.The first full team outing was really cool. Grant has created a great vibe in the pits with great people. All smiles and we are all having fun. Congrats to Dale who had a wicked first national outing on the Yamaha YZF-R1 to finish fourth overall. Congrats to Jake for clean sweeping his races and Av for her three wins in the Pro Twins 650 class too. Pretty epic little team!”
Other national championship class winners at Teretonga included Jake Lewis in Supersport 600; Tyler King in Supersport 300; Avalon Lewis (née Biddle) in Pro Twins 650; Luke Ryder in Super Twins; Karl Hooper in Superlites; Lincoln Wright in the Supersport 150 class and the duo of Phillip Law with Angus Ravenwood in the Sidecars.
Lewis couldn’t have asked for a better return to national level racing after a nearly two-year hiatus.
Jake Lewis
“We had a great opening round to the NZ Superbike Championship and it was great to be back with Altherm Yamaha and the KMD Racing Team. Qualifying P2 I knew it was going to be a hard weekend. Each race was a hectic battle for the lead, with many overtakes each lap, it made for extremely exciting racing. The Yamaha YZF-R6 was an absolute weapon this weekend and to go 1-1-1 was a dream start. I can’t wait for round two at Levels this weekend, where we look to continue with this momentum.”
The series now travels a few kilometres north to the Levels International Motor Raceway, near Timaru, for Friday and Saturday’s round two (February 14-15), before crossing Cook Strait to arrive at Hampton Downs, near Meremere, for round three on March 8-9 and, finally, it all wraps up at Taupo with round four on March 15-16.
It was a great Burt Munro Challenge week for the Honda crew with Tony Rees defending his title by again winning the New Zealand Hillclimb Championships at Bluff on Thursday, while Otautau’s Johnny Racz took his Southland Honda CRF450R to win the famous (50-mile) Beach Race marathon at Oreti Beach on Friday.
For Tony Rees, this was his fourth national hillclimb title victory, after first winning it in 2016 and then winning three in a row (in 2023, 2024 and now 2025), while fellow Honda man Racz has also been a multi-time beach race winner in the past (in 2020, 2021 and 2023).
2025 NZ Superbike Championships Calendar
- Round 1, Feb 7-9, 2025, Teretonga Park, Invercargill (part of Burt Munro Challenge week);
- Round 2, Feb 14-15 (Friday and Saturday), 2025, Levels International Motor Raceway, Timaru;
- Round 3, March 8-9, 2025, Hampton Downs (MotoFest);
- Round 4, March 15-16, 2025, Taupo (MotoMania).
NZ Superbikes/F1 Race One Top 10
| Pos | Rider | Cl. | Gap |
| 1 | Mitch Rees | NZSBK | 7:50.712 |
| 2 | Tony Rees | NZSBK | +3.886 |
| 3 | Alastair Hoogenboezem | NZSBK | +6.164 |
| 4 | Dale Finch | NZSBK | +8.489 |
| 5 | Dave Sharp | NZSBK | +20.059 |
| 6 | James Hoogenboezem | NZSBK | +20.211 |
| 7 | Rogan Chandler | NZSBK | +21.976 |
| 8 | Isaac Markham-Barrett | F1 | +31.484 |
| 9 | Heath Botica | F1 | +31.529 |
| 10 | William Crosby | NZSBK | +32.528 |
NZ Superbikes/F1 Race Two Top 10
| Pos | Rider | Cl. | Gap |
| 1 | Mitch Rees | NZSBK | 7:52.087 |
| 2 | Tony Rees | NZSBK | +0.767 |
| 3 | Alastair Hoogenboezem | NZSBK | +2.266 |
| 4 | Dale Finch | NZSBK | +3.805 |
| 5 | Rogan Chandler | NZSBK | +7.491 |
| 6 | Dave Sharp | NZSBK | +14.26 |
| 7 | James Hoogenboezem | NZSBK | +14.456 |
| 8 | Isaac Markham-Barrett | F1 | +20.374 |
| 9 | Aaron Scott | F1 | +26.916 |
| 10 | Heath Botica | F1 | +29.917 |
NZ Superbikes/F1 Race Three Top 10
| Pos | Rider | Cl. | Gap |
| 1 | Mitch Rees | NZSBK | 7:51.703 |
| 2 | Alastair Hoogenboezem | NZSBK | +2.093 |
| 3 | Tony Rees | NZSBK | +2.818 |
| 4 | Dale Finch | NZSBK | +3.220 |
| 5 | Rogan Chandler | NZSBK | +5.682 |
| 6 | Dave Sharp | NZSBK | +13.986 |
| 7 | James Hoogenboezem | NZSBK | +14.263 |
| 8 | Heath Botica | F1 | +25.164 |
| 9 | Aaron Scott | F1 | +25.817 |
| 10 | William Crosby | NZSBK | +32.087 |
NZ Superbike Standings/Overall
| Pos | Rider | P | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
| 1 | Mitch Rees | 1 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 76 |
| 2 | Tony Rees | – | 20 | 20 | 16 | 56 |
| 3 | Alastair Hoogenboezem | – | 16 | 16 | 20 | 52 |
| 4 | Dale Finch | – | 13 | 13 | 13 | 39 |
| 5 | Rogan Chandler | – | 9 | 11 | 11 | 31 |
| 6 | Dave Sharp | – | 11 | 10 | 10 | 31 |
| 7 | James Hoogenboezem | – | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 |
| 8 | William Crosby | – | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 |
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