Mitch Rees' performance at Manfeild two weeks ago was the perfect way for him to start his 2022-23 motorcycle road-race campaign, so it must have truly been icing on the cake when he repeated the dose on Boxing Day Monday and claimed his first titles of the new season.

The Honda Motul Racing New Zealand team rider from Whakatane took his CBR1000RR-R model bike to once again qualify fastest at the final round of the Suzuki International Series at Whanganui's Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day and he then once more backed that up later in the day by winning all three of the event's premier races.

He won both Formula One/Superbikes races at the iconic annual event on the holiday Monday and also clinched the Robert Holden Memorial trophy.

The Bay of Plenty man had also won the series in this class when the competition last ran in December 2020 – it skipped last year due to the pandemic – although it was his younger brother Damon Rees (Honda) who secured the Robert Holden Memorial trophy on that occasion.

In winning the second F1/Superbike race of the day on Monday he also secured the New Zealand TT title for the season.

His performance was a stand-out and so was his bike, with fresh graphics applied to make it a factory replica of the bike raced in the 1980s by American Grand Prix legend and three-time world champion Freddie Spencer.

The 29-year-old led from start to finish in both the F1/Superbike races, winning the first race by nearly five seconds from eventual runner-up Richie Dibben and beating local star Dibben to the chequered flag by just over a second in race two (in the fight for TT title honours).

Mitch was second into the first turn in the Robert Holden Memorial feature race, but passed fast-starting Upper Hutt rider Rogan Chandler early on lap one and quickly shot off into the distance, eventually winning that race by more than seven seconds from Chandler.

"It might have looked easy but nothing is really ever easy when you race motorbikes. Like the other riders too, no doubt, I had not had a lot of time on the bike before the series began," says Mitch.

"But the bike works really well and I'm loving it.

"I started racing road bikes in 2016 and my first bike was a 1000cc superbike. I was finishing like about eighth or ninth, I recall, so that wasn't a bad way to get started in the sport. It's different to racing motocross, which is where I began with bikes. You don't get beaten up so much on a road bike.

"I've had to change my training to cope with the different challenges of riding a powerful road machine, but obviously I've come good with that. My 2022-23 season is certainly off to a great start," says Mitch.

Blue Wing Honda group sales manager Lance Turnbull added explanation to the bike's distinctive racing colours.

"We at Blue Wing Honda will be celebrating in 2023 our 50th anniversary of selling the Honda brand in New Zealand and Mitch Rees wanted to get things going at this prestigious event with something special – his bike kitted out in Freddie Spencer replica livery. It is a fantastic Honda heritage time piece," says Lance.

"What a great way to start these calibrations with his winning form in all his races at Whanganui on Boxing Day."

With one-third of his 2022-23 season now in the record books, Rees can now take a couple of weeks for rest and preparation before he continues on with his national superbike championship title defence.

The opening round of the Suzuki International Series at Manfeild was recognised also as the opening round of the New Zealand Superbike Nationals and racing for that title resumes with two events in the South Island, at Teretonga and Ruapuna in early January, with the final two rounds set for the North Island, at Hampton Downs and then Taupo in March.

  The various class winners in the 2022 Suzuki International Series, which wrapped up at Whanganui on Boxing Day, were Whakatane's Mitch Rees (F1 Superbikes class; also the TT title winner and winner of the Robert Holden Memorial race); Upper Hutt's Rogan Chandler (F2 Supersport 600; also the TT title winner); Taupo's Karl Hooper (F3 Pro Twins; also the TT title winner); Wanaka's Jesse Stroud (Supersport 300); Whanganui's Dwayne Bishop (Formula Sport/Bears, senior; also the TT title winner); Whanganui's Jeff Croot (Formula Sport/Bears, junior; also the TT title winner); Silverdale's Tyler King (Supersport 150); Upper Hutt's Kieran Mair (Gixxer 150); Hastings rider Gian Louie (Pre-89 post classics, senior); Lower Hutt's Dean Bentley (Pre-89 post classics, junior); Whanganui's Richie Dibben (Supermoto; also the NZ championships title); Auckland's Adam Unsworth and Bryce Rose (F1 sidecars Suzuki Series winners outright); Tokomaru's Barry Smith and Auckland's Stu Dawe (F1 sidecars TT title winners); Whanganui's Bryan Stent and Dan Franzen (F2 sidecars; also the TT title winners); Carterton's Mark Smith and Dean Corrigan (Classic sidecars).

Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

Photo: Whakatane's Mitch Rees (Honda CBR1000RR-R), winner of the premier Formula One/Superbike class this year after scoring a hat-trick of wins at Manfeild and finishing unbeaten again at the Boxing Day finale at Whanganui. Photo: Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com