INFINEON09

INFINEON RACEWAY

HODGSON BAGS A TOP TEN FINISH IN RETURN TO AMA SUPERBIKE RACING AT INFINEON

Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, CA May 17, 2009

The Infineon Superbike event marked the return of Corona Extra Racing pilot Neil Hodgson into the AMA Superbike fray. Neil joined Jake Holden who has been handling the riding duties in Neil’s absence at the picturesque Napa valley circuit.

The weather was beautiful with peak temperatures hitting well into the high 90s. Neil took the riding chores as easy as possible to get back into the swing but was still able to qualify for Superpole along withJake. The riders went out one after the other and finished eighth for Jake with Neil right behind in ninth. Neil said he was having a hard time with his shoulder and Jake was getting used to being back on his Superstock bike after the factory Superbike.

Come the race both Jake and Neil got good starts and were right in the lead pack for the first lap. Misfortune was soon to befall both however. On the second lap, while in eighth, Jake ran wide at turn seven, rejoining almost last, in eighteenth, but really on the gas. Neil started out in eleventh after lap one but worked up to ninth on lap two and was right in the mix but lost the front end in turn eleven on lap four and went down. He was not able to restart.

Neil said, “The track got really greasy because it was so hot. I was going in hard and the front end just washedout!” Jake really had his head down after his off track excursion, making up two places every lap and working back up to twelfth by lap six, but then the Turn eleven gremlin bit him and his bike threw its chain as he came out of the corner.

Day two dawned even hotter with the temperature nudging the high nineties when the flag dropped on the second Superbike race. Jake got a good start and held his position for the opening laps. He moved up as high as sixth before a mechanical problem with his suspension slowed him down and eventually forced him to pulloff. Overall, it was a very disappointing weekend for Jake.

Neil rode a steady pace after his get-off in the first race. Early in the race he lost a couple of positions over his start but worked back up to ninth and held it to the finish with a strong cushion of fourteen seconds over tenth. Neil said, “I wanted to make sure I finished so decided to take it very conservatively and not push it. I actually felt a lot better today than I did yesterday - even after getting off!”

In its “Race to the Lime” Corona Extra Honda Racing is proud to be partnering with: Parts Unlimited, Cycle Gear, Pro Honda Oils, AGV, FMF, Autolite, Hotbodies Racing, K&N, Motion Pro, Vortex, Dainese, GPR, Ogio, CR&A, RK, Dunlop, Powerstands, Bellco, Adran, K&L, HRC, Acme Garage, Vicci, Fluid Designs, EBSCO Media, MTS.