Ant West crowned NZ SBK champ

Australian Anthony West has been crowned the 2023/2024 New Zealand Superbike Champion after a hard-fought battle with Kiwi star Mitch Rees (Honda) that went right down to the final bout.

Decided over 16 races across five rounds, the evergreen 42-year-old was riding for the Addicted To Track Yamaha squad – the same team with which he’s campaigning the Australian Superbike Championship – showing the same speed throughout the season that earned him a berth in the MotoGP categories between 1999 and 2015.

The series is held over six rounds. However, in a move aimed at helping teams and riders manage costs and travel budgets, each team is allowed to discard the round where they scored the least (or no) points. This meant West missing the opening round in early December had no bearing on the final championship standings.

The Australian celebrated the overall victory in Rounds 2, 3 and 4 and finished second overall in Round 5 before last weekend’s final bout at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. After qualifying in P2, it was Rees who celebrated the first two wins of the weekend after two really intense battles, but West dug deep to win the third and final race of the weekend, which was enough to seal the title and loft the championship-winning trophy.

“I have enjoyed every moment of racing in New Zealand and the people have been very welcoming, making it that much more enjoyable to race there,” he wrote on social media.

“My Australian team did an amazing job and I would like to thank everyone who is a part of the Addicted to Track race team – from the people that fed and looked after us to the guys and girls working on the bikes – they’ve all done an awesome job in helping me win this title.”