Rees cracked the \u201ctriple\u201d once again this season, winning the premier Formula one\/Superbike class overall for the series, then the New Zealand F1 TT title for winning race two at Whanganui, and then also snatching the coveted Robert Holden Memorial feature race trophy on Boxing Day.<\/p>\n
He qualified his 1000cc superbike fastest and then won both F1 races at Whanganui before putting underlining that performance by also winning the Robert Holden Memorial (RHM) feature race.<\/p>\n
It was Rees\u2019 fifth F1 title win in a row for this series.<\/p>\n
Rees previously won the F1 class overall in the Suzuki International Series in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 (the series was not run in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic).<\/p>\n
And because Rees then added the RHM feature race victory to the ones he had previously celebrated in 2022, 2023 and 2024, it became four times in a row that he has won this prestigious trophy.<\/p>\n
It could have been another Rees family battle at the front this year too, with 58-year-old \u201celder statesman\u201d Tony Rees chasing hard early on in the 2025 series, until his unfortunate crash at Manfeild two weeks ago sent him to the sidelines and, with a broken ankle, Tony Rees did not race in Whanganui on Friday.<\/p>\n
Instead, it was rising star Rhys Lindsay, from Porirua, and Taupiri youngster Jesse Stroud who completed the RHM race podium.<\/p>\n
The Robert Holden Memorial trophy probably holds a special place in the Rees family home, with Mitch Rees\u2019 late younger brother Damon Rees having also won it in 2020 and it has also been won by their father, Tony Rees, on seven occasions (between 1990 and 2016).<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal this year was to make history, to do something that\u2019s never been done before, and I achieved that,\u201d said Mitch Rees.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get my name on the Robert Holden Memorial trophy four years in a row was absolutely mega.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been something of a development year for me as we try out different things with the bike and I\u2019ll be ready to face up to some big-name international riders expected to come over for this series next season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Class winners in the 2025 Suzuki International Series, which wrapped up in Whanganui on Boxing Day, are: Whakatane\u2019s Mitch Rees (formula one); Auckland\u2019s Cameron Leslie (formula two\/supersport 600); Silverdale\u2019s Tyler King (formula three); Silverdale\u2019s Tyler King (supersport 300); Paraparaumu\u2019s Richard Markham-Barrett (formula sport, senior, over-600cc); Whanganui\u2019s Jeff Croot (formula sport, junior, up to 600cc); Auckland\u2019s Paul Pavletich (Pre 89 post classics, senior, over-600cc); Auckland\u2019s Scott Findlay and Hawera\u2019s Martin Gray (Pre 89, post classics junior, under-600cc) first equal; Upper Hutt\u2019s Keiran Mair (Pre 95, post classics senior, over-600cc); Te Awanga\u2019s Eddie Kattenberg (Pre 95, post classics junior, under-600cc); Tokomaru\u2019s Barry Smith\/Whanganui\u2019s Louise Blythe (F1 sidecars); Whanganui\u2019s Tracey Bryan & Jo Franzen (F2 sidecars); Whanganui\u2019s Richie Dibben (supermoto); Masterton\u2019s Jadin Galway (pre 72 classic solos, Cemetery Circuit only); Carterton\u2019s Mark Smith & Graham Wilkinson (pre 82 classic sidecars, Cemetery Circuit only).<\/p>\n
Robert Holden Memorial feature race top five: 1. Mitch Rees, 2. Rhys Lindsay, 3. Jesse Stroud, 4. Levin\u2019s Tahana Parker, 5. Upper Hutt\u2019s Sasha Drain.<\/p>\n