Neil Hodgson Retires

The nice guy of British bike racing, Neil Hodgson, has been forced to retire after "doing a Foggy" and knackering his shoulder altogether.

The immensely likeable Lancashire lad (Hodgson, not Foggy) is a former World Superbike champion, who also raced in BSB, AMA and MotoGP.

Last year, while he was riding in AMA, he was doing some motocross training when the bike spat him off and he landed on his shoulder, doing serious damage. Hodgson decided to return to British Superbike, but had a disaster in practise for the first round at Brands Hatch when he highsided on a cold tyre, landing on that same shoulder again.

Sadly, it was curtains for his motorcycle racing career. Neil reported that his shoulder should recover most of its function over the next couple of years, but his bike racing days are over.

It's a very sad day for British bike racing. Some people have slagged Hodgson for winning the WSBK title by sheer dumb luck, finding himself on a factory Ducati on Michelin tyres when nobody on another bike or tyres could win a race. But Hodge didn't find his factory Ducati contract in a box of cornflakes. He earned it through talent and determination. Winning the BSB title in 2000 helped his GSE Ducati team decide to move up to WSBK the following year. A couple of years as a bloody quick privateer with a win and tons of podiums led to the Ducati ride. (Those results being in the Bayliss-Edwards years, and riding wheel to wheel with those guys is no mean feat.)

His only real competition for the WSBK title was his team-mate Ruben Xaus. OK, the crazy Catalan, nicknamed Ruben Chaos, did tend to fling his bike at every gravel trap he passed by, but he was seriously quick.

The pair of them were both promoted to the first satellite Ducati MotoGP team, but the bikes were second rate and the team was fourth rate, and surrounded by non-stop rumours of [cough] financial [ahem] issues.

So Hodgson was no muppet on a bike. I'd be amazed if Neil wasn't appearing on our TV screens on a regular basis. He's been there and done that, raced all over the world, and he's quite simply one of the most likeable characters in bike racing. Good luck in the future, Neil.

Neil Hodgson Signs For Honda In AMA

Alright, Hodgson fans, here is the news you've been waiting for. Superbike Planet is reporting that Neil Hodgson has signed for American Honda to race in the AMA Superbike championship alongside superstar Miguel DuHamel, who has been 39 since the Titanic hit an iceberg and remembers when Frankie Chili was knee-high to a grasshopper.
Hodgson spent so long waiting for a decent 2007 ride that when the music stopped he was left standing there without a seat. He had various gigs during the year, including testing for the Bridgestone MotoGP team, the Rizla Suzuki British Superbike team, and a one-off outing on a Honda in the AMA. He also commentated on a couple of WSBK races for British Eurosport, doing an excellent job that suggests a media career beckons when he eventually hangs up his leathers.
Hodge won the WSBK championship for Ducati, and is a former BSB champion, also on a Ducati. He previously rode for 2 seasons in AMA Superbike until Ducati pulled out when the AMA proved less sympathetic to V-twins than the Italian marque had hoped. He is highly popular and well known for signing autographs for as long as the fans can stand it. With his proven speed, and knowledge of the American racetracks, Hodgson should be a contender for wins, provided that the deeply suspicious dominance of Suzuki in the AMA does not continue. (20 seconds faster than the other bikes in a production class? Yeah, right!) At least he will have the comfort of plenty of U.S. dollars, although with the exchange rate at around $1 = £0.49, he should probably spend them in the USA rather than bringing them home.

MotoGP: Neil Hodgson Signs as Ducati Test Rider

Former World Superbike champion Neil Hodgson has been signed up as the official Bridgestone Ducati test rider with immediate effect, according to MCN.
The Englishman had failed to find a ride for this year after Ducati pulled out of AMA Superbike at the end of last season, largely due to the Americans' refusal to allow Ducati the kind of technical advantages that they wanted.
It's great news for Hodgson, who will soon get to ride the new 800cc Duke. His previous MotoGP experience was a miserable season on a year-old 990cc D'Antin Ducati, which was a creaking pile of junk on worthless tyres.
If Hodge gets the chance to ride at tests with the other teams, he will hopefully be able to impress his way into another MotoGP ride. He is highly popular among bike racing fans in the UK, due to his openness and wicked sense of humour. (This was shown to hilarious effect when he joined the British Eurosport commentators, including his old friend and ex-racer James Whitham, for WSBK race 1 at Donington. The trio didn't realise they were live on air yet, and sat there swearing and bad-mouthing the presenter back in the studio.)
It is ridiculous that Hodgson could find no ride for this year, as he is clearly quick, and a sponsor's dream. Hopefully this will lead to a decent full-time ride.

Update 7 Sep 2007: Hodgson signs for American Honda

WSBK: 2007 Hopes Fading for Neil Hodgson

It is looking increasingly likely that Neil Hodgson will sit out the 2007 season, as his hopes of finding a World Superbike ride are fading.
The former WSBK champion has spent the last two years racing in the United States, in the AMA Superbike category. The team had very limited success, largely due to the technical rules imposed by the AMA. While the traditionally Ducati-friendly World Superbike Championship allows teams running twin cylinder bikes to change many of the engine's internal components, which allows them to remain competitive with the 4-cylinder bikes, the AMA forces twin cylinder manufacturers to stay closer to road bike specifications.
With Ducati now pulling out of AMA Superbike altogether, Hodgson had hoped for a return to the factory Ducati team in WSBK. However, Ducati Corse re-signed the off-form Lorenzo Lanzi. Hodgson has claimed that the Ducati team leader, reigning WSBK champion Troy Bayliss, refused to have the Englishman as a team-mate. While this may be true, Bayliss is not the team manager, so the refusal to sign Hodgson must be considered a Ducati team decision.
The rumours of a link-up between Hodgson and Carl Fogarty have been renewed recently, with claims that Foggy will run new MV Agusta bikes in WSBK. While Hodgson's manager Roger Burnett has pointed out that Foggy is rich enough to buy bikes and pay Hodgson from his own pocket, without a title sponsor, this is extremely unlikely.
There is an old saying in Formula One, "It's easy to make a small fortune in this sport. Just start with a large fortune and work your way down."
This maxim also applies to sports that involve overtaking. While Foggy is a millionaire, he would be incredibly unlikely to spend millions of dollars per year running a race team as a rich man's plaything. Foggy's constant stream of books and DVD's show that he wants to increase his wealth, not decrease it. Brand new MV Agusta bikes will surely take at least a year to become competitive, so Fogarty is unlikely to spend his own money hiring Hodgson with little hope of race wins.
Burnett has been around motorcycle racing for a very long time, has run race teams and knows that his best option is to keep generating publicity in the hope that a sponsor will appear.
As a former World Champion, Hodgson has a proven track record. He is also a friendly, honest and talkative rider who spends many hours signing autographs for his fans. He should be a sponsor's dream, but sponsorship is increasingly hard to find, especially with the near-extinction of tobacco money. If the factory Yamaha team in MotoGP, with their superstar Valentino Rossi, are struggling to find a title sponsor, then what hope for Foggy and Hodgson?
There are a lot of big fish in the WSBK pond. Too many for Hodgson to find a top ride for 2007. He may have a better chance in 2008, when Toseland hopes to leave for MotoGP. Bad seasons for veteran stars such as Corser and Biaggi might see one or both of them retiring altogether at the end of 2007. Hodgson will at least have more time to convince a team to sign him for 2008. A year of TV work might actually be better than a poor year riding mediocre machinery.
There is very little time left. The WSBK season starts in Qatar on Saturday 24th February. We haven't seen the last of Neil Hodgson, but we might not see him on a motorcycle until next year.