Words by Brian Pilcher, photos by Kevin Steen.Last Friday, we managed to catch up with Brit Neil Hodgson at the AMA Superbike Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals held at Virginia International Raceway. The Parts Unlimited Ducati rider took time out of his busy days practice and qualifying schedule to speak to us for an exclusive interview about his time in the States and what his plans are for the future. We are also privileged enough to have Neil’s team mate Ben Bostrom grace us with his presence during the interview.
Brian (gixxerUSA): Neil, thanks for taking the time to speak with Londonbikers.com and Ben it’s great you’re here please feel free to chime in at any time.
Ben Bostrom: The pleasure is mine... (note of sarcasm!)
Neil Hodgson: (to Ben) This is my interview, don’t even thing about butting in! (laughs)
Brian: The main thing everyone wants to know is, what are your doing for next year, do you have it sorted yet?
Neil: No, I don’t know. I find out at the end of the month basically. I want to stay with Ducati and they’re making a decision at the end of August. So I’ll know then really.
Brian: So Ducati and the Parts Unlimited Team here are not going to be?
Neil: Yeah, unfortunately not, it does look that way. Everybody here has really put a lot of effort in but financially it’s just not feasible. Because the rules are slightly different over here, Ducati is really spending a lot of money to battle for third.
Brian: Because of the rule difference between here and World Superbike where that bike is obviously killing over there.
Neil: Yeah, exactly.
Ben: The tracks are different too…
Neil: Yeah, the tracks are very different here, twisty little stop-start circuits, which seem to suit the faster accelerating Suzuki’s.
Brian: Do you know what Parts Unlimited plans are for next year?
Neil: No idea.
Brian: How do you feel about this weekend and this track at VIR?
Neil: It’s one of the toughest tracks for us really. A lot of change of direction, it’s really physical. It’s the part we really lack at Ducati. The bikes are a little lazy, so it does make it quite difficult for us. A tough weekend ahead!
Brian: How would you compare Virginia this weekend to Mid-Ohio last weekend?
Neil: Similar in some ways because that track has a lot of change of direction. It’s a really weird track. It’s a great track but there’s just no where to overtake, it’s dead weird. You can follow a lot of slower riders and there’s just no where to pass them. There are three or four sections that are just one lane. So your race strategy around here is critical, you need to be able to look for back markers cause you could end up following one for three or four corners.
Brian: More so here than at Virginia?
Neil: More so here than anywhere else.
Brian: At the season finally they’re going back to Mid-Ohio and do a little special round there, so is that going to be better than say coming back here?
Neil: Yes, probably.
Ben: I followed a back marker for a lap... Oh yeah, I was the back marker… (smirks)
Brian: Neil, you mentioned the Suzuki’s. You and Mladin had a run in earlier this year. Are you all sorted with that?
Neil: I’ve not spoke to him personally, but for me, when something like that happens I forget about it within a week. It’s not something I worry about, it’s just oh yeah whatever…
Brian: You guys have run the traction control for two or three races now. What’s your feeling on that?
Ben: Yeah, tell him Neil… (smiles)
Neil: It’s actually taking more getting use to than we first thought. I tested it last winter and it seemed to really help, but so far it’s been a little bit inconsistent. I think because we don’t know how to set it up as riders.
Brian: Are you guys adapting from the World Superbike team’s stuff?
Neil: Yeah, so we get a base setting but it didn’t work, their base setting or us, so we’ve been playing around with it. It’s been a bit frustrating for us because we know the system, once set up right, it would give you an advantage, but at the moment it’s not right.
Ben: (laughing)
Brian: With the time to test and all, do you think it would be enough to bring the Ducati up, and make up for the difference with the bikes here?
Neil: No, it definitely won’t. When you’re a second down, it’s only worth a couple of tenths a lap.
Brian: You’ve been over here a couple of years now. Some good results with a win in the rain and some podiums. Is there anything you think you could have done differently?
Neil: No not really. There have been a couple of rounds where I’ve not ridden well and I found that really, really frustrating. I hate when I’ve had a bad weekend and it’s not that you haven’t given your best it’s just not happened for whatever reason. I find that really frustrating whenever I go home. So, change those bad weekends, there’s been three or four over the past two years but apart from that I know how hard I’ve tried, I’ve thrown everything at it, so there’s nothing I’d change.
Brian: You spent two years in MotoGP…
Neil: Only one year…
Brian: One year, excuse me, and two years over here, obviously on a money scale they’re totally different series, but in a competitor comparison between the two series and comparing British Superbike?
Neil: I think British Superbike has changed so much since I was there it’s really hard for me to judge the British Superbike one. In the past I’ve said that British Superbike was not as competitive as here or World Superbike, but because I’m not there, I think it’s really difficult to judge. I don’t want to go on record as saying it’s a easy national championship all I know is here it is very difficult. There are seven very, very fast riders.
Brian: Would you like to go back to MotoGP?
Neil: NO!
Brian: Not even with the right circumstances?
Neil: Well… I know that ain’t going to happen, so I have no interest or thoughts of going back.
Brian: When you won the World Superbike Championship you were on the Michelin tires. Of course since then the series has changed to the spec Pirelli tire. If it was to work out and you ended up back over there next year, have you ever raced on Pirellis and how are you going to adapt to that?
Neil: I’ve not but Troy Bayliss had not raced on them till this year and he’s won 8-10 of the races so I don’t feel like it’ll be an issue at all.
Brian: So just get a little time on them?
Neil: Yeah exactly. If I do go back to World Superbike with Ducati, I’m sure there’ll be a lot of pre-season testing so certainly by the time the first race comes around I’ll be well adapted to them.
Brian: How many years have you been racing now?
Neil: I started in 1990, 1983 riding motocross, so I’ve raced every year since 1983.
Brian: Are you still enjoying racing at this point in your career?
Neil: Um… Not really, no. There’s times when I really enjoy it when the results are good, but the result is everything, so the race is not enjoyable.
Brian: It’s just a job?
Neil: Totally, 100%. When you cross the line first, you come out of the last corner and see the flag waving and you post a wheelie and the emotion you feel and the buzz you get from that, it’s incredible. You don’t get that if you’re battling for fifth place. So then it’s just like a job.
Brian: You’ve been doing this for many, many years, what goals do you still want to reach in your motorcycle racing career?
Neil: You know what, it’s really strange because I’ve got some great results in my career and now I’m going through a period where the results are not so great. You just want to relive those memories so I just want to win again. You don’t loose the hunger for it. It actually makes you more hungry once you have won. If you’ve never won you don’t know what you’re missing but I know what I’m missing. When I’m away from the track I know how good I feel about myself as a person and when I’m not winning I don’t feel like the same person. My goals are still really high and I still want to win.
Brian: We have a hypothetical question we wanted to throw at you.
Neil: Ok.
Brian: If you could pick any team, any bike, any series and set yourself up what would it be?
Ben: Buell!
Neil: Buell?! (Laughing)
Brian: So Ben is chiming in as Buell would be his choice…
Neil: Me, Ben and Eric on the Buell, me and the Bostrom brothers. I’d be the team manager though and we won’t do any testing, no need to. We’d just have fun…
Brian: Two weekends ago, WSB was at Brands Hatch and
LB Foxy caught up with Chris Walker and asked him about you. He said it would be great to see you back in WSB because you are a World Champion… Would like to go back over there and race with Chris, one of your main rivals from BSB?
Neil: Well… I think Chris is a complete and total wanker! So I don’t want to race with him, I don’t like him as a person… NO… I’m totally joking when I say that, I’d love to. Me and Chris had incredible battles in 2000 when we both rode beyond ourselves really, and since then Chris has had a little bit of bad luck, and I’ve had a lot of good luck I’d say. Since then, our careers have taken different paths.
Since that, I feel like my luck has changed a bit and it’s not gone perfect. I’d love to be back there racing him, I’d race with Chris. It looks like he’s riding really well with the Kawasaki; it seems to suit him so.
Brian: Neil, what CD is in your CD player right now or actually your ipod?
Neil: Yeah, I’ve got an ipod…
Ben: Boys To Men! (Laughing)
Neil: That was the first thing I put in my ipod. Let me just think about recent music I think is really good. I’m not a music person.
Brian: Current favourite movie?
Neil: It’s so embarrassing cause I’m so not hip, you know what I mean. CD I’ve played more in my ipod was James Blunt, and that’s just so gay to admit that… but I don’t care.
Ben: That’s awful! Come on!
Neil: No, no, but I’m not into music. Chill out, he’s nice and depressing!
Brian: Ben, what are you listening to right now?
Ben: Neil is pretty stylish though…
Neil: (to Ben) Then what are you listening to? ‘I’m just some Johnny Cash dude?!’
Neil: Favourite movie… let me think of my favourite movie. Tell you what, I saw ‘The Decent’, it was quite good, really gory and I don’t normally like gory films, but it’s really good. I saw ‘Click’ recently, been watching a lot of films recently, a bit of a film critic.
Ben: What a chick! HA!
Neil: Yeah, what a chick! I listen to James Blunt, I watch movies, and what else was it. Wait a minute, (to Ben) on Sunday night you went to watch Talladega Nights.
Ben: Yeah, where were you?
Neil: Well I’d had a beer and the last thing I wanted to do was go to the fucking movies with you!
Ben: They drank plenty of beer in the movie…
Neil: Did they? They had a really good night.
Brian: We really appreciate this time with you. Is there anything you’d like to shout out to the guys over in London, at Londonbikers.com, they’ll hear it all over the UK?
Neil: Definitely, I really miss home, so bad, you’ll never know much.
Brian: Did you make it home for the Isle of Man TT’s?
Neil: No, I’ve been home once this year since the start of the season, it’s surprising. America is a great country and where I live is like paradise, but it’s real, the cliché, ‘There’s no place like home’, is true. It’s just weird how you miss it, you just miss your friends and certain restaurants. So I’m just desperate to get home, drink a pint of Guinness, have a really good winter and hopefully get a great opportunity next year to show what I’m capable of doing.
Brian: I know what ever works out, they’ll certainly be glad to have you and it’s been a privilege having you here in the states these two years. I’ve enjoyed it very much, you’ve really upped the status of the series quit a bit and I appreciate you taking this time and talking with us.
Neil: Thank you very much. No worries, anytime.
Neil went on to qualify fourth, first non-Suzuki rider. He scored an awesome third place podium finish in race one but unfortunately lost the front end on lap two of race two with a DNF.
Since this article was written, Ducati North America and Ducati Corse have just announced that their participation in the AMA Superbike Championship with a factory team will cease at the end of the 2006 season. The Parts Unlimited Ducati Team has successfully raced with the 999 Superbike in each of the last three seasons (winning five races as of today) and the American based Ducati subsidiary will now take a year to consider its future options.
Michael Lock, CEO of Ducati North America said, "Our primary objective of raising the profile of our brand and of the 999 Superbike has been achieve.
There are a lot of exciting developments coming to our business in the next couple of years and we have decided to take a step back in 2007 in order to plan most effectively for our long term future. Hopefully in the meantime the AMA technical rules, which currently force twin-cylinder bikes to have more standard parts than in World Superbikes, thus making it really difficult for Ducati to compete with the best four-cylinder machines, will be revised for the future.
I would personally like to thank the team, the riders and our sponsors, particularly Parts Unlimited, for their role in the resurgence of Ducati's success in the USA."
Ducati Corse Superbike Director Paolo Ciabatti added, "We have enjoyed a very good relationship with Terry Gregoricka and his team and are very proud of the results achieved together with them. It is always a difficult decision to end a successful partnership, but we respect the reasons behind Ducati North America's change of strategy. A special thanks to Terry, Tom, Gabriele, Gary, Ben, Neil and all the boys at Parts Unlimited Ducati Team for their hard and professional work. We are sure that they will do their best to finish the racing season on a high note".
Ducati North America will remain committed to racing in the United States through the continuation of a national and regional Contingency program as well as various other racing support programs.
We would like to give special thanks to Julian Thomas at Ducati Corse for making this interview possible, and John Gardener the PR Manager at the Virginia International Raceway. A real big thanks and high five to Foxy for setting it up with Ducati Corse and giving this Yank a chance to cover it for LB. You guys are the best.
Related GalleriesAMA Superbikes @ VIR '06 - SundayAMA Superbikes @ VIR '06 - SaturdayAMA Superbikes @ VIR '06 - FridayAMA Superbikes @ VIR '06 - ThursdayRelated Linkswww.neilhodgson.comwww.ducati.com
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