Melton motorcycle ace Antony Hart roars to national title treble

The Melton racer was a four-time champion last season, but having dropped the 125 championship went into the 2016 campaign with modest ambitions.

But another consistent weekend at the season-ending meet at Silverstone brought Hart the King of the Classics Championship, the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club (CRMC) Post-Classic 350 Grand Prix Championship, and the ACU Post Classic UK 350 Championship.

Dad Ron said: “We would have been pleased to retain one, but we achieved the impossible by retaining all three titles in very fast and competitive classes.

“We are extremely proud to have won because of the size of budget we work to in comparison to our main opposition.”

Having already won the CRMC Championship, Hart was told to use the two races as a warm-up for the serious business.

But he could not rein in his racing instincts, setting a terrific pace to claim the runners-up spot in race one and a win in the second.

Hart had a big lead to defend in the ACU Championships, and needed every bit of it as a water leak from a cracked cylinder head forced him out of the race.

But his main rival failed to claim the necessary win and the second title was in the bag.

The sportsmanship of a rival saved Hart’s weekend as the loan of a spare cylinder head allowed him to contest the main race of the weekend, the King of the Classics.

On a track made slippery by a badly-timed rain shower, and with a hastily-rebuilt engine, Hart moved into second place as the race got under way, but a huge slide put him on the grass and dropped him to third.

But Hart knew the championship would be his once again if he could hold station and keep his rivals in sight.

And when the second-placed rider fell, Hart was able to cross the line in second to complete his title treble.

On his last outing of the season aboard the TZ 350, the Leicestershire racer signed off with another victory in the Race of the Year.

There was more action to come aboard Arnold Fletcher’s Len Manchester Yamaha 500,

A comfortable gun-to-tape victory, by 15 seconds, in race one was followed by a much closer affair.

Yet the result was the same, Hart pipping his nearest rival by a tenth-of-a-second after a terrific race-long battle on slippery track.

Ron added: “None of this would have been possible without the support of local companies.

“Thank-you to Simon Evans at BE Event Hire, Tony Keele at TK Motorcycles, Neil at Len Manchester Motorcycles, Digital Deadline for the graphics, Dennis Harrington for repairing the leathers after the crashes, and special thanks to Arnold Fletcher for his endless support and encouragement.”