Hodgson fourth in AMA

Former WSB world champion and ex-MotoGP star Neil Hodgson was fourth in Sunday’s second race at the Lexington round of the US Superbike championship (July 24).

He was fifth in the first race, on Saturday.

Ducati Austin rider Hodgson had a difficult first race after falling back to ninth. He fought for fourth with a late charge in his first race at the difficult circuit. “I had a good start off the line, but I backshifted all the way down to first gear for turn one. That dropped me back. The first couple of laps, I was cursing myself for changing the set-up for the race.

“But I caught a couple of riders and my strategy was to stay consistent and keep my head down. I looked at my pit board once in the whole race because I hoped I was riding hard and pulling away from people behind me. I’m learning the circuit and it’s slowly coming to me.

“No excuses, but it’s different than any track I’ve ever been.”

After Sunday’s second race he said: “I’m disappointed I didn’t have a little better pace today,” said Hodgson. “We missed a chance at an even better result with the way the race went for some of the others. This track was a difficult one for me and I’m glad to put it behind us.

“We never really found our form here. As far as the race went, it was pretty lonely for me out there, not many battles for position. We’ll go on to Virginia and Atlanta now. We hope to close out the season with some nice results and I feel good about those tracks.”

Saturday Mid-Ohio AMA Superbike results: 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki; 2. Ben Spies, Suzuki; 3. Eric Bostrom, Ducati; 4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda ; 5. Neil Hodgson, Ducasti ; 6. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki.

AMA Superbike Points (After 12 0f 17 rounds) 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki 396; 2. Ben Spies, Suzuki 359; 3. Eric Bostrom Ducati 297; 4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki 294; 5. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 275; 6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 256.

Sunday Mid-Ohil AMA Superbike results: 1. Eric Bostrom, Ducati; 2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda; 3. Ben Spies, Suzuki; 4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati; 5. Kurtis Roberts, Honda; 6. Steve Rapp, Suzuki.

AMA Superbike Points (after 13 of 17 rounds): 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki 397; 2. Ben Spies, Suzuki 388; 3. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 334; 4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki 316; 5. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 302; 6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 288.