Pole position and then three wins from three starts in the opening salvo of the 2022-23 road-racing season ... it doesn't get any better than that.

With round one of the new-look season at Taupo abandoned due to track concerns just over a week ago, the racers were fizzing to get racing at round two of the series – actually now round one by default – when the red lights switched to green at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, in the Manawatu, at the weekend.

And Honda's defending national superbike champion Mitch Rees was up for the challenge.

The 29-year-old from Whakatane took his Honda CBR1000RR-R bike to qualify fastest at in the Formula One/Superbike class and, launching from the front row, he was never headed.

With three impressive wins over the two days, his campaign is obviously "off to a perfect start", exactly the words he used to describe his weekend in the Manawatu.

"After not being on a bike for so long, I didn't really know where I was at in relation to my rivals. But we burned up a bit of rubber (tyres) at the weekend and found out I'm going okay," he says with a grin.

"I wasn't going massively fast, but I did enough to get the wins. The racing was a bit mixed with the weather conditions and there was a distinct lack of grip at time on the wet track. But I had dad acting like my wingman and he finished second overall for the weekend, so that was doubly good for the team and for Honda.

" I wasn't on the limit, but the bike was good all weekend. We know we can make the bike ever better too."

The Suzuki International Series and the New Zealand Superbike Nationals are running in tandem for the first time this season and the racing that finally kicked off in Feilding at the weekend was the chance for the riders to blow away the cobwebs after two seasons disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The final round of the Suzuki International Series is, as usual, set for the public streets of Whanganui, the world famous Cemetery Circuit, on Boxing Day and Mitch Rees is now really just a stone's throw away from wrapping up that separate title.

His younger brother Damon Rees was the main winner at Whanganui the last time this event was run, in December 2020.

Damon Rees has been racing in the United Kingdom this year and will not be racing in New Zealand this summer.

In the New Year, the racers will revert back to standard track racing mode and resume their national championship battles on purpose-built race circuits.

The latter two phases of the national series will be run early in 2023, two rounds in the South Island in January, followed by two more rounds in the North Island in March.

Points gained during the street fighting around the safety barrier-protected curbs and corners of Whanganui on Boxing Day will be added to the tally for riders seeking Suzuki International Series glory, but will not be counted in terms of riders chasing titles in the New Zealand Superbike Nationals.

With his efforts at Manfeild, it seems Mitch Rees could already be well on target to successfully defend his national superbike crown.

DATES FOR 2022-23 NZ MOTORCYCLE ROAD-RACE SEASON:

Suzuki International Series:

• Round 1, Taupo, Dec 3rd and 4th (ABANDONED)

• Round 2, Manfeild, Dec 10th and 11th

• Whanganui's Cemetery Circuit, Dec 26th (third and final round of Suzuki International Series)

South Island:

• Round 3, Ruapuna, Jan 7th and 8th

• Round 4, Teretonga, Jan 14th and 15th

North Island:

• Round 5, Hampton Downs, part of Moto Fest, Mar 4th and 5th

• Round 6, Taupo, Mar 11th and 12th

-By Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com