Melton racer Antony Hart wraps up championship at Snetterton

Antony Hart aboard the ever-popular Len Manchester Yamaha 500 EMN-160609-172428002

Round six of the CRMC Championships served up four races on both bikes and the feature race: the Classic Race of Aces.

Hart’s championship hopes aboard the TZ 350 took a knock in the first race of the weekend when he suffered front brake failure on the last lap after a race-long duel for first place, sending him onto the grass and a non-finish.

But after a simple repair, and with the long-standing handling problem gone, the Melton race team remained upbeat for the weekend.

Hart punches the air as he wins with the TZ 350 EMN-160609-172440002

Races two and three saw a repeat of the opening encounter with Hart having to settle for runners-up spot both times, by just half-a-second in the latter race.

But he managed to turn the tables in race four as he won by a half-second margin to leave the Leicestershire rider with an unassailable Championship lead going into the final round at Silverstone.

The Hart team also ran the Len Manchester Yamaha 500, a bike which continues to attract attention and is beginning to return to its old form. Two races were held in blustery conditions on Saturday, producing more great competition and two wins for the Melton man.

Races three and four on Sunday brought two further class wins despite changing conditions.

Hart was involved in some close-quarter duelling at Snetterton EMN-160609-172452002

Hart’s dad and chief mechanic Ron said: “Arnold Fletcher should be a very proud man to have built this bike 40 years ago.

“It’s still capable of beating much bigger capacity bikes with 40 years of technical improvements. It really is a very special motorcycle.”

Sunday also saw the main feature race: the Race of Aces, and with some of the bigger teams missing, Hart qualified second.

With his main rivals retiring through mechanical problems, Hart, who also clocked the weekend’s fastest lap, took his sixth win of the weekend by more than 21 seconds to boost his King of Classics title chances ahead of Silverstone.

“The weekend has filled us with optimism for the final round at Silverstone in a month’s time,” Hart added.

“But we will need a bit of good luck to retain the ACU and the King of Classic titles.”