Australia is a country rich in motorcycling heritage. Although today the face of motorcycling has changed, the spirit and comraderie remains as strong as ever.
As we enter into the 21st century Australia’s obssession with motorcycles and motorcycling lives on…….
Peter Hintons’ racing heritage is not isolated to just one career. The Hinton family’s involvment in motorcycle racing spans three generations, many years in the world championship grand prix as well as domestic racing in Australia.
Peter is the son of Eric Hinton and the grandson of the legendary Harry Hinton Snr.
The story begins shortly after the end of the second world war .
MAJOR TITLES WON BY THE HINTONS
| YEAR | NAME | TITLE | CIRCUIT | POSITION |
| 1947 | ||||
| Australian T.T | Bathurst | |||
| Harry Hinton Snr. | 350cc | 1st | ||
| 1948 | Victorian GP | Ballarrat | ||
| Harry Hinton Snr. | 350cc | 1st | ||
| 500cc | 1st | |||
| 1949 | Australian GP | Bathurst | ||
| Harry Hinton Snr. | 250cc | 1st | ||
| 350cc | 1st | |||
| Australian TT | Bathurst | |||
| Harry Hinton Snr. | 350cc | 1st | ||
| 500cc | 1st | |||
| Unlimited | 2nd | |||
| 1950 | ||||
| NSW GP | Bathurst | |||
| Harry Hinton Snr. | 250GP | 1st | ||
| 500GP | 2nd |
| YEAR | NAME | TITLE | CIRCUIT | POSITION |
| 1951 | Australian Gp | Bathurst | ||
| Harry Hinton Snr. | 500cc | 1st | ||
| Unlimited | 1st | |||
| 1952 | Australian Gp | Bathurst | ||
| Harry Hinton Snr | 350cc | 1st | ||
| Harry Hinton Snr | 500cc | 1st | ||
| 1953 | Australian T.T | |||
| Harry Hinton Snr | 250cc | 1st | ||
| Australian Gp | Bathurst | |||
| 1st | ||||
1954 |
Harry Hinton Snr | 250cc | 1st | |
| 350cc | 1st | |||
| 500cc | 1st | |||
| Unlimited | ||||
| 1955 | Australian Gp | Bathurst | ||
| Harry Hinton Snr | 350cc | 1st | ||
| 500cc | 1st | |||
| Eric Hinton | 500cc | 3rd | ||
| Australian T.T | Southport QLD. | |||
| Eric Hinton | 350cc | 1st | ||
| 500cc | 1st | |||
| Harry Hinton Jnr. | 350cc | 2nd | ||
| 1956 | Australian T.T | |||
| Eric Hinton | Unlimited | 2nd | ||
| 350cc | 2nd | |||
| Harry Hinton Jnr. | 350cc | 1st | ||
| 1957 | Australian GP | Bathurst | ||
| Eric Hinton | 500cc | 2nd | ||
| Unlimited | 1st | |||
| 1957 | ||||
| Australian T.T | Phillip Island | |||
| Eric Hinton | 500cc | 1st | ||
| Harry Hinton Jnr | 250cc | 1st | ||
| 350cc | 1st | |||
| 500cc | 2nd | |||
| 1958 | Bathurst T.T | Bathurst | ||
| Eric Hinton | 500cc | 1st | ||
| 1959 | Australian T.T | Phillip Island | ||
| Eric Hinton | 250cc | 1st | ||
| 350cc | 1st | |||
| 500cc | 1st | |||
| NSW GP | Bathurst | |||
| Eric Hinton | 250cc | 1st | ||
| 1960 | Australian T.T | Bathurst | ||
| Eric Hinton | 250cc | 1st | ||
| 350cc | 2nd | |||
| 1963 | NSW Hill Climb | |||
| Eric Hinton | 350cc | 1st | ||
| 500cc | 1st | |||
| Unlimited | 1st | |||
| 1970 | Australian T.T | Phillip Island | ||
| Eric Hinton | 500cc | 2nd | ||
| 1975 | A.R.R.C | Bathurst | ||
| Robert Hinton | 125cc | 2nd | ||
| 250cc | 2nd | |||
| Australian GP | Bathurst | |||
| Robert Hinton | 250cc | 1st | ||
| YEAR | NAME | TITLE | CIRCUIT | POSITION |
| 1976 | Australian GP | Bathurst | ||
| Robert Hinton | 250cc | 1st | ||
| 350cc | 1st | |||
| 1983 | Australian GP | Bathurst | ||
| Tony Hinton | 125cc | 1st | ||
| 1984 | Australian GP | Bathurst | ||
| Tony Hinton | 125cc | 1st | ||
| 1985 | Australian GP | Bathurst | ||
| Tony Hinton | 500cc | 1st | ||
| 1986 | Australian GP | Bathurst | ||
| Peter Hinton | 350cc | 3rd |
Harry Hinton Snr won 17 Titles at Bathurst.
Quite a list of acheivments for one family, and this is without going into their exploits overseas as well.
Needless to say the racing career of Peter Hinton is also a credit to the family name.
Peter and brother Tony travelled with their father throughout Europe in the 60’s. The stint in Europe was a mobile university that exposed them to the workings of large capacity single cylinder four stroke race bikes, knowledge that ironically has become relevant a generation later. On return to Australia Peter & Tony took up junior motorcross and then road racing.
After a steady rise in domestic racing Peter’s career highlight was finishing runner up in the 1983 350cc Australian Road Racing Championship finishing just 2 points behind Richard Scott. Peter retired from racing in 1986 after being seriously injured in a car accident on the way to a meeting at Winton in 1985.
Peter was once again struck with the racing bug following an Inter – varsity race at Winton in 1991. He teamed up with Graeme Mcmillan and so was born the Husqvarna single cylinder. Peter went from strength to strength as they developed the race bike into the best single cylinder this side of the black stump.
Peter’s highlights on the PRP Husky 610 were 4 wins from 4 starts at the World Superbikes in 1996 & 1997. Peter won four titles in 1996 they were:The Victorian Supermono Championship, NSW single Cylinder Championship, N.S.W Bears Championship, The World Superbikes Supermono Support Races.
Peter Hinton
Classic Racing Images
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