Neil Hodgson starts as home favourite when the World Superbike Championship moves to Silverstone this weekend, but James Toseland proved in Germany that Hodgson can be beaten.
Neil Hodgson starts as home favourite when the World Superbike Championships moves to Silverstone this weekend, but fellow Brit James Toseland proved in Germany that Hodgson can be beaten.
Toseland caused an upset in the last round in Germany earlier this month when he won the second race.
Hodgson has won nine out of the 10 races this season and leads the championship with 245 points, Toseland is second with 132 points and Ruben Xaus is third on 126 points.
“I suppose there’s a bit more pressure on me now,” said Toseland of his victory. “But it won’t affect my performance. I’ve proved that I’m capable of winning races if things go my way and Silverstone is a fairly level playing field. If it stays dry, last year’s data won’t really be of much use, so it’ll be a challenge to find a good working set-up – especially with the modifications that they’ve made to the track.
“The new chicane will probably cause a few low-speed handling problems – I know the British Superbike boys weren’t too impressed by it – but we’re all going to have to ride through it so it should even things out a bit. I just hope the weather’s better than last year.”
Hodgson said the Ducati bike was giving him the edge. “I’m riding probably as well as I have ever ridden before and the bike is pretty good,” he said.
“I was riding a 2001 spec Ducati last year and now I’m riding a 2003 spec Ducati, so I’ve gained two years. Last year I was fast round the corners but slow on the straights, now I’m fast on the corners and fast on the straights.”
The Brit said racing at home was always special. “The following in the UK is fantastic for myself and all the British riders. To race in front of your home crowd and to get that home support is something that makes me feel very proud. I love racing in the UK, it’s always very special.”