Motorcycling: Hodgson 'was given World Superbike title', fumes Fogarty
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Your support makes all the difference.Carl Fogarty has launched a scathing attack on new World Superbike champion Neil Hodgson, claiming that his fellow Lancastrian "has won nothing yet".
Fogarty won the World Superbike crown four times before his career was ended by injury and the Blackburn-born star is adamant Hodgson will always remain in his shadow.
Hodgson, from Burnley, struggled for many years after being labelled the next Fogarty, with the two Lancashire riders rarely seeing eye to eye. He finally fulfilled the potential he showed as a youngster when he won the World Superbike crown this year, although Fogarty played down that achievement, citing a lack of competition during the season.
Now Fogarty, who runs the Foggy Petronas Racing team in World Superbikes, has reacted angrily to suggestions he was scared of taking on Mick Doohan by moving to grand prix racing - a transition which Hodgson will undergo next year when he rides for the D'Antin team in MotoGP.
Hodgson was reported as saying: "I don't fear Rossi like Foggy feared Doohan. Carl would never admit that but that's probably why he never took up the challenge. He talked about it but never did it. But I'm going to do it. I want to be judged against the best riders in the world and that means in MotoGP."
Fogarty responded: "I think it's a cowardly comment. The simple truth is that I never got a chance to ride in GPs. I would have loved to have been given that chance, because I was certainly never scared of anyone on the track. It's cowardly because I can't go out there and race anymore and do anything about it.
"People will know for sure that it's an absolute lie. They will realise that Neil is trying hard not to be boring.
"He has a long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath as me. He has won nothing yet - he was given the World Superbike title this year."
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