Jerran Hart has saluted Buxton’s Craig Cook as a worthy winner of the National League Riders’ Championship after exonerating him from any blame after they clashed in a fiery heat 18 at Rye House last night.

Fourth-placed Hart’s Buccaneers team-mate Jay Herne also offered no complaints about finishing third overall after Kyle Hughes, of Plymouth, suffered last bend mechanical heartache to gift Cook the title in the final.

With one qualifying race each to go the quartet were tied on 11 points, with Hart and Cook going out in heat 18 and Herne and Hughes in race 20.

Cook forced Hart wide both times on the second bend in a twice-started race with the Bournemouth Castle Cover rider falling once, then being outwitted by the Hitmen star again in the re-run as Cook roared on to take the chequered flag.

Then Mildenhall’s Barrie Evans gated in front of Herne and Hughes in the final qualifying heat but his bike immediately packed up and hindered the Aussie’s progress to try and get around him and beat Hughes, who won that race.

Looking back on heat 18, Hart said: “Cookie rode me towards the fence but I would have done the same to him.

“He did hit me really hard, there was contact, but to be fair we are all hard racers.

“It’s all about protecting your racing lines and staying in front and Cookie did it very well.

“He’s a great rider and a good bloke off the track. So I’ll give that one to him.

“As I was trying to go round him he kept pushing me and pushing me.

“I saw the fence and dropped it a bit because we’d run out of room.”

Hart added: “I just lifted too hard when I started the run-off for third with Jay, so I’m disappointed with that.

“But I rode the best I could and just wasn’t the top man in the meeting.

“I dropped a silly point to Jay in the heats then lifted in our run-off which unsettled me.

“Barring that, I’m happy because I won the British Under-18 title at Scunthorpe the night before and I’ve got fourth here.”

Herne, who has had to pull out of the Australasia side that meets Great Britain in a junior international at Poole on Wednesday, said: “I’m not complaining, I had a good meeting and to beat Jerran in a run-off and come away with third and a trophy is better than nothing.

“I began well with three wins but then dropped a point to Cookie after he rode a sensible line, a perfect line, and I couldn’t get past him.

“Barrie did break down in heat 20 after he’d made a great gate and I’d missed it off four.

“Barrie stopping did put me off for a split second, and Kyle, who was on the inside, was able to get away, but that’s just the luck of the draw.

“I was so close, but I’ll take third after I’d been fourth, then fifth, in my two previous attempts in this meeting.”

Herne, who now lines up in the Second City Trophy individual meeting at his Premier League track of Birmingham on Wednesday, added: “It would have been good if Jerran and I had raced off for first, instead of third, so Bournemouth could have got another trophy.

“But I’ll be back for another go at this event next year. I’m only 25. There are a lot of older riders here in the league in their early 40s or late 30s.

“I’m still relatively new racing in Britain. It’s only my third season, so, hopefully, if any clubs want me next year I’ll get a chance to be here again because I still have a lot to learn.”

National League Riders’ Championship at Rye House: Craig Cook (3-3-2-3-3) 14, Kyle Hughes (2-3-3-3-3) 14 (after run-off), Jay Herne (3-3-3-2-2) 13, Jerran Hart (3-2-3-3-2) 13 (after run-off), Tony Atkin (3-1-1-0-3) 8, Simon Lambert (2-1-3-0-2) 8, Barrie Evans (1-2-2-3-ret) 8, Darren Mallett (1-3-1-2-0) 7, Ben Hopwood (1-1-0-1-3) 6, Daniel Halsey (fell-0-2-2-1) 5, Nick Simmons (fell exc-2-2-0-1) 5, Jade Mudgway (0-1-1-1-1) 4, Benji Compton (2-fell exc-0-1-fell) 3, Mark Simmonds (fell exc-2-1-ns-ns) 3, Adam Allott (0-0-exc tapes-1-1) 2, James Cockle (fell exc-fell exc-ns-ns-ns) 0. Reserves: Ben Morley (0-2-ret) 2, Daniel Blake (0-2) 2.