Neil Hodgson

Neil Stuart Hodgson (born 20 November 1973) is a British former motorcycle racer, who won the 2000 British Superbike Championship, and the 2003 Superbike World Championship titles. He then went on to have a moderately successful four years in the American Superbike Championship, with a best 5th place championship finish.

At the start of the 2010 season, Hodgson returned to the British Superbike Championship with the Motorpoint Yamaha team managed by Rob McElnea. However on 22 April 2010, Hodgson announced his retirement from British superbikes and competitive motorcycle racing, due to a shoulder injury sustained in a motocross accident during the previous AMA season. Hodgson aggravated the injury in the first round of the British Superbike Championship at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

Hodgson is now married to Victoria Hodgson and divides his time between family in the Isle of Man whilst working as a motorcycle racing commentator and TV studio pundit, road racing trackday instructor and as an ambassador for motorcycle companies including Ducati.

Personal life Hodgson was born in Burnley and lived there and in Nelson and Colne, Lancashire during his early life, attending Ss John Fisher and Thomas More RC High School. He was six when he started riding his brother's bike around playing fields in Brierfield near his grandma's home. Hodgson has a daughter Hollie-Jean and son Taylor. His wife is Victoria Hodgson and they married in 2023. He lives in Onchan on the Isle of Man. His hobbies include motocross, trials and mountain biking. He supports hometown club Burnley F.C.

Career

Early career A schoolboy motocross rider from 1982 through 1989, Hodgson was voted Rider of the Year in 1986–87. Hodgson made the leap to road racing on Easter Sunday 1990 at a meeting at Langbaurgh (Teesside Autodrome), on a Yamaha TZR125. His first win was at the Three Sisters meeting in that same year. He came eighth in his first season in the British Clubman's Ministock. In 1992, he moved to the 125cc International Supercup, and became British National 125cc Champion at the age of 18. He was then selected to compete in the FIM World 125cc Championship as the youngest rider in the series and Britain's only representative in the class with Team Burnett (Roger Burnett), placing 24th in the Championship. In 1994, he was selected by HRC Honda as one of only five officially supported riders in 125cc World Championship with Team Burnett. He took part in two 500cc World Championship races for the Harris-Yamaha team.

500cc World Championship (1995) In 1995, Hodgson moved full-time to 500cc World Championship with WCM, developing a reputation for being a smooth but impetuous rider who crashed a lot – he came 11th in the Championship.

Superbike World Championship (1996–1998) For 1996, Hodgson moved to the Superbike World Championship (aka 'WSBK') with Ducati, and this began a frustrating three-year spell in the series, the latter two years with Fuchs Kawasaki. 9th was Hodgson's best championship finish in this era. His first podium came at Laguna Seca Raceway in 1996.

British Superbike Championship (1999–2000) For 1999, Hodgson returned to the British Superbike Championship (BSB) with GSE Racing, and spent the season re-establishing himself on a superbike and regaining his confidence. His teammate at GSE Racing Troy Bayliss took the British Superbike title. 2000 saw one of the most titanic battles British Superbike had ever seen, as Hodgson battled Chris Walker who was riding for Suzuki, all season long. The championship came down to the last race of the year at Donington Park, and for most of the race it looked like Walker would take the title. However, with just three laps to go, Walker's engine blew, allowing Hodgson to take the title. He also won two races of the British rounds of the Superbike World Championship that year as a 'wildcard' entry – one at Donington Park and one at Brands Hatch. The most memorable race of Hodgson's British Superbike title winning year was at Oulton Park, when he started race 1 from the back of the grid due after he stalled his bike, and ended up winning the race in breathtaking style, much to the amazement of the British crowd and his fellow competitors. The most controversial moment of the season came in race 2, when he and Walker came together on the final lap of the race battling for the win, resulting in Walker going down and Hodgson receiving a post-race penalty.

Return to Superbike (2001–2003) GSE Racing stepped up to the Superbike World Championship series full-time for 2001, with Hodgson joined in the Ducati satellite team by up and coming English rider James Toseland. Hodgson was a race winner and fifth overall that year, while in 2002, Bayliss and Colin Edwards were dominant, although Neil took pole positions en route to third overall. After both Bayliss and Edwards left for MotoGP, Hodgson became the number one rider for the works Ducati team in 2003, winning the title against teammate Ruben Xaus. Hodgson starred in a video called RIDE with EagleE and The Schlepp Riders also starring: Phil Greening, DJ Sassy, Princess the hit song maker of Say I'm Your No.1 fame in the 1980s. Also featuring Jason Fin.

MotoGP World Championship (2004) For 2004, both Hodgson and Xaus went to Ducati's second-string MotoGP team, Team d'Antin Ducati. But the power delivery of the Desmosedici was extreme compared to a WSB Superbike, and the team had limited sponsorships and funds to run a test programme. Resultantly, Hodgson never felt he had the bike set up like he ever wanted it to be, while Xaus's natural extreme style appeared to get more out of the machine. Xaus ended up as rookie of the year, while a disillusioned Hodgson came 17th in the championship.

AMA Superbike Championship (2005–2009) Hodgson at the time vowed never to return to MotoGP, stating that a combination of his age and nationality was now against him, and he would never be offered the best machinery capable of competing let alone winning. Having shown loyalty to Ducati throughout his motorcycle racing experience, the question now was where to place him. Ducati had a 'works' team focusing on making Régis Laconi the next WSB champion, and Hodgson didn't want to return to the Superbike World Championship in a satellite team, or to British Superbikes. Resultantly, with the stated aim of becoming the first rider to win all three Superbike titles of 'British', 'World' and 'American', he moved into the less-prestigious American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) championship in the United States for 2005 – he came sixth to Mat Mladin. Hodgson finished the 2006 AMA Superbike Championship in fifth place.

Ducati pulled out of the AMA Superbike Championship for at least the 2007 season, and Hodgson failed to obtain another ride as the 2007 Superbike World Championship opened. Hodgson was linked to joining Yamaha France from round 3 onwards, and to a temporary ride for Suzuki in WSBK. On 11 April, he was confirmed as a test and development rider for Ducati, replacing the injured Shinichi Ito. Rizla Suzuki gave Neil a test on the team's Suzuki GSX-R1000 for tests of the bike taking place at Cadwell Park, but despite speculation he was not intended to replace Chris Walker.

Hodgson returned to the AMA Superbike Championship for one round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on a Corona Honda, partnering James Ellison, finishing fifth. At the Sachsenring MotoGP round, he was revealed to have rejected a chance to stand in for Toni Elías on a Gresini Honda at this race, as he thought that it would impact his chances of landing a full-time Superbike ride, probably with Ten Kate Honda after an earlier speculated deal to ride for Fogarty Racing on an MV Agusta dissipated. On 5 September 2007, Honda America announced that Hodgson would race for them in the 2008 AMA Superbike season, riding the new Fireblade.

In 2008, Hodgson came sixth in the AMA Superbike Championship, picking up two third-place finishes at Miller Motorsports Park. These were his best results of the season, towards the end of the season Hodgson became more inconsistent collecting low scores in one race of every round from 8–10. Hodgson signed a contract to keep him with the Corona Honda team for the 2009 season.

In 2009, Hodgson started the season off strongly with a second-place finish at the Daytona circuit. Hodgson then had an accident in training on a motocross bike, causing him to suffer a collapsed lung and a dislocated shoulder causing him to miss the next three rounds. Hodgson would eventually finish 11th on 167 points.

Return to British Superbikes (2010) Hodgson confirmed that he would be returning to British Superbikes for the 2010 season, with Motorpoint Yamaha alongside youngster Dan Linfoot. On 22 April 2010, Hodgson announced that he was retiring from British superbikes and competitive motorcycle racing, due to the shoulder injury he picked up in a motocross accident during the previous AMA season. Hodgson had aggravated the injury in the first round of the British Superbike Championship at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on 5 April. Hodgson was replaced in the Motorpoint Yamaha team by Ian Lowry.

Support for charity Hodgson is a patron of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Pts 1992 125cc Honda JPN AUS MAL SPA ITA EUR GER NED HUN FRA GBR26 BRA RSA NC 0 1993 125cc Honda AUSRet MALRet JPN16 SPA12 AUTRet GER24 NED15 EUR19 RSM20 GBR10 CZE11 ITA15 USA15 FIMRet 24th 18 1994 125cc Honda AUSRet MAL17 JPNRet SPARet AUT27 GER16 NED18 ITARet FRA20 GBR21 CZERet USA22 NC 0 500cc Harris-Yamaha ARG15 EUR16 32nd 1 1995 500cc ROC-Yamaha AUS20 MALRet JPN14 SPA12 GER14 ITA14 NED13 FRA8 GBR7 11th 54 Yamaha CZE10 BRA11 ARG10 EUR9 2004 MotoGP Ducati RSARet SPARet FRARet ITA11 CAT12 NED10 BRA16 GER13 GBR10 CZE11 PORRet JPN8 QATRet MALRet AUS18 VAL15 17th 38

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1996 Ducati SMR12 SMRRet GBRDNS GBRDNS GERDNS GERDNS ITA6 ITA9 CZE11 CZE4 USA3 USA9 EUR8 EURRet INARet INA8 JPN13 JPN14 NED7 NED6 SPA8 SPA8 AUSRet AUS12 10th 122 1997 Ducati AUSRet AUSRet SMR7 SMR4 GBR4 GBR9 GER6 GER8 ITA ITA USARet USA9 EUR4 EUR6 AUT8 AUTRet NED5 NED5 SPARet SPA8 JPN18 JPNRet INARet INA7 9th 137 1998 Kawasaki AUS8 AUSRet GBR12 GBRRet ITA4 ITA7 SPA7 SPA14 GERRet GER11 SMR7 SMR8 RSARet RSARet USA9 USA6 EURRet EUR9 AUT8 AUT10 NED10 NED9 JPN6 JPN16 11th 124,5 2000 Ducati RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN JPN GBR3 GBR1 ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR SPA SPA USA USA EUR2 EUR1 NED NED GER GER GBR4 GBRRet 12th 99 2001 Ducati SPARet SPA5 RSARet RSA4 AUS11 AUSC JPN7 JPN5 ITARet ITA7 GBR1 GBR2 GER8 GER2 SMR6 SMR16 USA2 USA3 EUR2 EUR2 GER7 GER10 NED5 NED5 ITA10 ITA7 5th 269 2002 Ducati SPA6 SPA5 AUS5 AUS4 RSA5 RSA4 JPN4 JPN3 ITA2 ITA4 GBR3 GBR6 GERRet GER8 SMR3 SMR4 USA5 USA3 GBR2 GBR3 GER3 GER3 NEDRet NED4 ITA4 ITA5 3rd 326 2003 Ducati SPA1 SPA1 AUS1 AUS1 JPN1 JPN1 ITA1 ITA1 GER1 GER2 GBR1 GBR1 SMRRet SMR2 USA2 USA2 GBR2 GBR5 NED2 NED1 ITA2 ITA4 FRA1 FRARet 1st 489

MotoAmerica SuperBike Championship

British Superbike Championship By year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Yamaha BHIDNS BHIDNS THR THR OUL OUL CAD CAD MAL MAL KNO KNO SNE SNE SNE BHGP BHGP BHGP CAD CAD CRO CRO SIL SIL OUL OUL OUL NC 0