Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128386
lie" .111 N eil Hodgson was covered in rain and sweat and probably a little champagne when he sat down in the middle chair for the postrace press conference late on a gloomy Saturday afternoon at Road America. The 2003 World Superbike Champion had just won his first AMA Superbike race in appalling, torrential conditions, equal to the worst he'd ever raced in. Some believed the conditions suited the Englishman, who calls the Isle of Man home. But he was having none of it. "I think the riders that always say they look forward to riding in the rain are usually the crap ones in the dry," he began, showing the refreshing candor and openness that have endeared him to fans and media alike. "I don't want to be that guy, you know what I mean? In about five years time when I'm going to retire, I'll be looking forward to the rain because I'll be crap." Mat Mladin, the second-place finisher seated to his left, said, in a telling moment and with a smile, "I like this guy. He thinks like me." Mladin respects accomplishment, and Hodgson came to the U.S. with both British and World Superbike crowns. The two share the same work ethic and approach to racing. But Hodgson was coming to Mladin territory, and Mladin, more than anyone else, knows what it takes to win. At the Daytona tire test, Mladin said, "Neil thinks he's going to come here and win, and I don't think he's going to. It'd be the same if went to England and said I was going to win, he wouldn't think I'm going to. The guy's a good motorbike rider. He's got a good motorbike. He should do good." Hodgson has done good, but he expected to do better. Why he hasn't seemed like a good place to start. What did you expect of the level of racing in the U.S., and what have you found? I expected it to be a real high level. I came here with realistic expectations. I watched lots and lots of videotapes of everybody. I could tell by what I'd seen that the riders are going fast. If you've been racing as long as me, you become a good critic as well. So I can sit and watch a race and know, "Shit, those guys are going fast." That was one thing that appealed to me. I knew it wasn't going to be like I was just going to come and be head and shoulders above everybody else. I knew I was going to come and have to fight for every position, and that's basically what happened. What about the level of your equipment against the other equipment? To be totally honest, if you just take the Suzuki out of the package, nothing would have surprised me. But the way that Suzuki's bikes improved this year. it's been a big step. The lap records have been improved by nearly a 38 JULY 13, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS By HENNY RAy ABRAMS PHOTOS BY BRIAN J. NELSON second a lap and pole times are pretty much similar to last year, and this year we're not even using qualifiers. It shows the pace has been upped a little bit. That probably worked against me a little bit. In my first year having to learn all the circuits, learn the team, and then it being a bit of a spec year, so that sort of kicked me in the balls a bit. Ducati have been working really hard, and they are certainly on the way with making improvements. It just takes time. It seems like the Hondas may have closed the gap a little at Road America. Definitely. The Hondas h<\ve actually been quite fast all year, but they've definitely had some handling difficulties. Certainly when I see them on the track, the bike. you can tell the bike doesn't look to be hooking up too good, and it looks like it's not steering too well. I'm sure they'll have their own problems. Unfortunately for us, it looks like they're getting on top of those. I raced with Jake [Zemke] at Sears Point, and I saw then that, whatever they've been doing, they've started to find the right direction with the bike - because he was riding very fast at the end of the race. And that's a sign that the bike is handling quite good. Get it so you can do good lap times on worn tires. It's taken Ducati a little extra time to get parts to you because you're third in line behind MotoGP and World Superbike. There are some real differences between World Superbike and AMA. That has meant it's not quite as straightforward as you think. You would assume that any change they made on World Superbike would automatically be transferred straight to us. In some cases that's