2003 World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson has come to America to race in the 2005 AMA Superbike Championship after spending 2004 with the D’antin Ducati team in MotoGP. When asked about his goal for 2005 in an interview late last year, Hodgson commented that he wanted to win the AMA title.
Despite Hodgson’s impressive talent, many would say that winning the title his first year in the series would be impossible. Hodgson will be riding on tracks he has never seen before, competing mostly with riders who have ridden hundreds or even thousands of laps on those same tracks. Winning a title under conditions like that would certainly be difficult for even the best of riders.
Hodgson fired a shot across the bow of any critics with his performance at last week’s annual Daytona tire test. Despite the fact that the three-day test was his first time riding on the famous (or should it be infamous?) high bankings of the Florida speedway, Hodgson was immediately quick on his Ducati Austin 999. In the end, he posted third-fastest Superbike time at the test, close behind Suzuki’s Ben Spies and Mat Mladin. Hodgson’s best time of 1:40.711 put him faster than quite a few Daytona veterans, including 4-time Daytona 200 winner Miguel Duhamel.
If Hodgson can get up to speed this quickly at Daytona (widely considered the most intimidating track on the calendar), how quickly will he learn the rest of the tracks? Quickly enough to be a serious podium threat in 2005, and quite possibly a championship contender. Can Hodgson put Ducati back on top of AMA Superbike racing? Stay tuned to find out.
