Hodgson's dominance nears record proportions

Superbikes: Ducati rider set to become the first British champion since Fogarty after winning 11th race from 12 starts

With a 113-point lead going into yesterday's British round of the World Superbike championship here, Neil Hodgson could have been excused for easing off and avoiding risks in the 185mph action on the Northamptonshire circuit.

But the 29-year-old Briton refused to let up in the two 62-mile races, and destroyed his rivals' faint hopes of staging a fight-back. He won both events on his 1,000cc Ducati, and increased his lead to 130 points at the halfway stage of the championship.

It was a Schumacher-style performance and Hodgson is determined to maintain the charge in the remaining 12 races of the season. "It's not difficult to keep myself motivated," he said. "I have not yet achieved what I want - to win the championship. It's the only thing that I've ever wanted out of racing."

Hodgson, who has been chasing success on the international scene for a decade, will become Britain's first world road racing champion since Carl Fogarty's 1999 superbike success if he accomplishes his goal.

The victories were not easy, as he was suffering from the effects of a viral infection during the weekend. But they reinforced his growing reputation as one of the world's élite riders.

Hodgson gunned into the lead of the opening race on the first corner, but was soon swamped by the powerful four-cylinder Suzukis of Japan's Yukio Kagayama and the Spaniard Gregorio Lavilla.

The scrap developed into a 10-bike battle. At halfway Hodgson's team-mate Ruben Xaus burst to the front from 10th place, and the rising British rider James Toseland drilled through the pack from ninth place.

Then the Suzuki teamsters blew their chances in successive laps when Kagayama shot on to the grass and Lavilla crashed. The two Brits, however, maintained cool under pressure: Hodgson returned to the lead with five laps remaining, while Xaus succumbed to Toseland's charge.

"You have to keep your concentration to get round the fast corners on this track, and maintain your composure on the slow ones," said Toseland, displaying impressive racecraft for a 22-year-old.

Hodgson made a disastrous start in the second race and entered the first corner in 10th place. But once again, his rivals blew their chances while he shrugged off increasing exhaustion to move to the front.

Rizla Suzuki rider John Reynolds collided with Xaus and wrecked their chances of victory. The Frenchman Regis Laconi made a determined effort to win his first race of the year, but veered on to the grass when Hodgson drove inside him and took the lead. Even the gritty Toseland, who had started in sixth, could do no better than fourth place on a day and in a season when Hodgson is determined to blow any obstacle aside in his relentless drive for perfection. He has now won 11 of 12 races this year, and is in a position to threaten the American rider Doug Polen's record of 17 victories in a season, set in 1991.

The former superbike world champion Troy Corser endured another frustrating day on Fogarty's new Foggy Petronas machine, which is in its debut season of competition. "The handling is great, but I haven't got enough engine power to run with other people," he said after finishing 16th in the first race on the radical three-cylinder bike. He retired in the second leg with mechanical problems.

"It's very frustrating," Corser added. "I feel like I'm riding harder than anyone else, but there's not one bike on the grid that I can overtake on the straights." Fogarty, a four-time champion during his riding career in the 90s, hopes for better results when the series moves to the slower Misano circuit in Italy next weekend.

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Sixth round (Silverstone) Race one: 1 N Hodgson (GB) Ducati 38min 24.187sec; 2 J Toseland (GB) Ducati 38:24.627; 3 R Xaus (Sp) Ducati 38:24.786; 4 R Laconi (Fr) Ducati 38:25.130; 5 Y Kagayama (Japan) Suzuki 38:28.966; 6 J Reynolds (GB) Suzuki 38:29.272; 7 P Chili (It) Ducati 38:30.129; 8 M Rutter (GB) Ducati 38:30.558; 9 C Walker (GB) Ducati 38:31.416; 10 M Borciani (It) Ducati 38:58.586; 11 L Pedercini (It) Ducati 39:03.447; 12 G Bussei (It) Yamaha 39:07.574; 13 M Sanchini (It) Kawasaki 39:09.453; 14 I Clementi (It) Kawasaki 39:09.815; 15 N Russo (It) Ducati 39:10.575; 16 T Corser (Aus) Petronas 39:18.553; 17 S Fuertes (Sp) Suzuki 39:21.469. Ret: G Lavilla (Sp) Suzuki 30:45.123; V Iannuzzo (It) Suzuki 24:07.423; S Foti (It) Ducati 22:09.007; S Emmett (GB) Ducati 5:50.283; W Tortoroglio (It) Honda 6:14.591; J B Borja (Sp) 2:01.525; S Martin (Aus) Ducati 2:01.669. Did not start: D Garcia (Sp) Ducati. Race two (20 laps): 1 N Hodgson (GB) Ducati 38:13.944; 2 G Lavilla (Sp) Suzuki 38:14.437; 3 R Xaus (Sp) Ducati 38:14.597; 4 J Toseland (GB) Ducati 38:17.379; 5 Y Kagayama (Japan) Suzuki 38:18.061; 6 R Laconi (Fr) Ducati 38:18.164; 7 P Chili (It) Ducati 38:21.190; 8 C Walker (GB) Ducati 38:25.766; 9 M Rutter (GB) Ducati 38:26.343; 10 J Reynolds (GB) Suzuki 38:52.443; 11 L Pedercini (It) Ducati 38:58.435; 12 G Bussei (It) Yamaha 39:01.973; 13 M Borciani (It) Ducati 39:02.747; 14 M Sanchini (It) Kawasaki 39:02.938; 15 V Iannuzzo (It) Suzuki 39:03.286; 16 I Clementi (It) Kawasaki 39:03.507; 17 S Fuertes (Sp) Suzuki 39:26.347; 18 N Russo (It) Ducati 39:26.879. Ret: S Foti (Ita) Ducati 28:22.045; S Martin (Aus) Ducati 15:40.613; T Corser (Aus) Petronas 12:11.197; J B (Sp) Borja Ducati 12:11.508; S Emmett (GB) Ducati 13:10.493; W Tortoroglio (Ita) Honda 8:14.271. Did not start: D Garcia (Sp) Ducati. Leading championship standings: 1 Hodgson 295pts; 2 Toseland 165; 3 Xaus 158; 4 Laconi 145; 5 Lavilla 131; 6 Walker 110; 7 Chili 102; 8 S Martin (Aus) Ducati 78; 9 Borciani 73; 10 L Pedercini (It) Ducati 67. Manufacturers' standings: 1 Ducati 300pts; 2 Suzuki 158; 3 Petronas 52; 4 Kawasaki 51; 5 Yamaha 40; 6 Honda 21.