NEIL HODGSON
‘That first WSB win in 2000 was the pinnacle of my career’ The 45-year-old has spent a career winning at the highest level, but it hasn’t always gone to plan
‘Everyone was having a good time but I was stressed to hell’
On paper Neil Hodgson’s career has been packed with success: British champion, 500GP rider, WSB champion and highly regarded pundit for BTSport. But while the highlights speak for themselves, it is the difficult times, the poor results, the thoughts of quitting that have shaped him. Hodgson’s rise was staggering: “I started in 1990 and was British Champion by 1992. By 1993 I was a 125 GP rider, and by 1995 I was in 500GPs up against Mick Doohan!
“That season in 1995 was amazing and then I went from GPs to WSB as John Kocinski’s teammate on a factory Ducati. I’d never had a teammate and I ended up with the worst teammate in the world – a proper head f***! It was my first time on a Ducati, my first time on a Superbike and my first time on Michelins. I had so much to learn, but I did alright. “It was the following year that was hard. It was 1997 and I was Foggy’s teammate but just got beaten down by his dominance and that was the first time doubts kicked in. Am I as good as these guys? Up until that point I’d had no negative feelings. I honestly never felt any pressure – until it started to go wrong.”
So from the dizzy heights of 500GP front row starts and factory status in the glory days of WSB, Hodgson was off the pace and staring down the barrel of retirement.
“At the end of 1998 I was 24 and I spoke to Mum and Dad and my manager. I’d hated the last two years, but I’d earned a bit of money and I remember thinking ‘all I want now is to be happy’. I’d missed the period in my life of being 17-24 where all my mates had been out on the piss. I’m a normal lad from Burnley and all I wanted to be was normal again as everyone else was having a good time whereas I was stressed to hell.
“But in the end we came up with the idea to come back to the UK, give it one last try and see how I faired against the BSB boys. The key was get the enjoyment back, which I did straight away as I won the first race. The second race was a fairingbashing battle between me and Chris Walker and I loved it – for me that was what racing was all about.” BSB success after a rivalry with Walker won him legions of fans. And if there were still doubts about his class, he silenced them by winning as a WSB wildcard at Donington. “For me that first world championship race win in 2000 was the pinnacle of my career. Even though it was ‘only’ WSB, to win it I beat Edwards, Bayliss, Corser, Laconi, Xaus – proper factory guys.”
Combined with his BSB title glory his wildcard wins paved the way for a full-time return to the world championship with GSE Racing. And two years later as the factory Fila Ducati rider he won the WSB title in emphatic style, cementing his place in history and re-igniting British domination of the series.
Spells in MotoGP, AMA and BSB followed before he retired with a serious shoulder injury in 2010. But having enjoyed a career that spanned two decades, he’ll be remembered as one of the UK’s greats.
“I know it’s not modest to say you’re modest but I think I generally play my career down, but it still hurts if anyone is negative about my achievements because I know how hard I tried. The defining moments are that I tried and I failed, but I never gave in. I fought and fought – like you do in this sport. “These events try and break you and there are times when they do break you. In this sport, in any sport, you’re pressing the reset button a lot. It’s a case of right, that didn’t go to plan – let’s try again.”