Ducati Sporting Club UK
Race
MotoGP / WSB / BSB / Local racing.
*** WARNING*** May contain race results!!
 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-Sep-2003, 15:39
Old Yella Old Yella is offline
Registered Forum User
Big Twin
Bikes: Kawasaki ZX10r D6f, Dawes XC2.4, Planet X Superlight Pro Carbon
 
Posts: 1,428
Join Date: Jul 2002
Mood: aving a laff
Post race Assen interview with Hodgy.

DUCATI CORSE PRESS INFORMATION


Just hours after stepping off the Assen podium with the 2003 World
Superbike Championship trophy in his hands, Ducati Fila's Neil Hodgson
faced up to questioning from the world's press. What follows is a
transcript of Neil's press conference:


WHAT DOES THIS TITLE MEAN FOR YOU?

It means everything, the reward for 20 years hard work.


MANY PEOPLE SAY THAT WITH THE LOSS OF THE FACTORY TEAMS AND TOP RIDERS,
THE CHAMPIONSHIP HAS BECOME DEVALUED. DO YOU SEE IT THAT WAY?

No, I beat everyone last year except Colin and Troy who were on factory
bikes and Michelin tyres. I was very close to beating them on many
occasions as well so I believed that I was going to be champion whoever
I rode against this year if I was on the best bike and best tyres, which
I was.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF THE SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP IN YOUR OPINION?

I feel that when the championship needed a boost, it has taken a step
down again and it can't really afford that.


IT WAS A FORMALITY BUT YOU STILL HAD TO WIN THE TITLE. DID YOU HAVE ANY
MOMENTS THIS YEAR WHEN YOU LOST CONCENTRATION, SEEING AS YOUR LEAD WAS
SO GREAT?

Everything went absolutely perfect until Misano where I lost 30 points
in one weekend. And it changed my mentality and I rode defensive instead
of attacking everything, which is a shame, but there again you win a
championship with consistency.


WERE YOU BOTHERED BY THE FACT THAT YOU DIDN'T WIN THE FIRST RACE?

Yes, very much. But all I can say is I tried my best and I was so tense
on the bike. My body was like a piece of iron and I was riding so bad.


ARE YOU GOING TO MOTOGP NEXT YEAR?

It looks like it's going to happen but anything can happen and it's not
100%.


HOW DO YOU THINK YOU WILL GO IN MOTOGP?

I've learnt over the last few years that if you never give in, anything
is achievable. I didn't think four years ago that I would become World
Superbike champion. I'm not going to say I will be world champion but I
will say that I will hopefully go to MotoGP and ride every lap of every
race and give 100%.


WILL IT BE A PROBLEM FOR YOU TO GO TO MOTOGP OR SATISFACTION?

To be honest I would be happy to stay in World Superbikes, but the 'old'
World Superbikes, because I've raced it now for many years. I understand
Ducati, the circuits, the people, so my goal would be to win more
championships than Foggy, but the decision has been made for me really
because I have to ride against the best competition.


IT LOOKS AS IF YOU WON'T BE RIDING FOR THE FULL-FACTORY TEAM. WILL THIS
BE A PROBLEM FOR YOU?

No, I don't think so because the Ducati looks very strong this year and
that would eventually be the bike I'm riding. There will surely be less
pressure than being in the factory team. And there is a goal, if I
succeed then it will be a perfect step into the factory team.


THIS HAS BEEN THE FIRST SEASON DUCATI HAS NOT DONE MUCH PRE-SEASON
TESTING. HOW HARD HAS THAT BEEN?

It's not been too easy, but in a way it's been good for me as a rider
because it's made me work really hard every weekend at tracks. I can't
waste a lap, every lap I've got to be on it to get the best information
from the bike to get the handling better. It's a sensitive bike and I
can only compare it to last year's bike, which had six or seven years
development and did everything you wanted. On the 999 the parameters are
wider, the bike is unbelievably fast and is so good. This will be good
for me if I do go to MotoGP next year, because the bikes are more
sensitive.


DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD BE SITTING HERE TODAY IF YOU HADN'T GONE BACK TO
BRITISH SUPERBIKES AND TOUGHENED UP?

No, what could have happened was that if I had got a ride in 1999 in
WSBK, things might have been different. I would probably have got spat
out after three four years for being too old. I got spat out at 25 and
won the championship when I was 26 so I still had a few more years left
in me. I've got to thank GSE racing immensely, they were the right team
at the right time and I've got to thank Darryl Healey, who gave me this
opportunity. I was lucky to win the championship with them and be with a
team that wanted to go to the next level, and win the world
championship. He's like a member of the family now, but it's a shame I
didn't win it for him. GSE built the foundations around me and Fila
Ducati built the house!


DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR MICHELINS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE EVEN THOUGH
THEY DIDN'T DO A LOT OF DEVELOPMENT WORK?

People think they didn't do as much development work, but I did three
tests with Michelin and they turned up with 20 new tyres just because I
didn't like the feeling at the front. They couldn't have worked much
harder, they must have produced sixty tyres for me to test, which I'd
never experienced before. They didn't really have to because I was
leading the championship and going well. They realised I had a problem
and so they worked hard. At the start of the season I was nervous about
doing the transition from Dunlop to Michelin but I took to them like a
duck to water. They are the best tyres I have ever used.


HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO BECOMING A FATHER ON TUESDAY?

Disappointingly, nowhere near! Being a dad was so much better. I
actually am not that fond of babies and I was dreading Tuesday, but the
bizarre feeling I had when Kathryn gave birth, nothing comes close to
that, not even winning that second race and becoming world champion,
sorry to say! On a scale of 1 to 10, ten was Tuesday and one was today
and I genuinely mean that.


IS IT RIGHT THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT A PORSCHE THAT YOU WILL DRIVE ONLY NOW
YOU HAVE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP?

Yes, it's true. When I was a child I had a little Porsche car and it was
my dream. I went through school and wasn't very intelligent and didn't
pass many exams, then I left school and I was a builder and I didn't
think I'd ever own one. But I said if I can achieve my goal of winning
the world championship then I will buy myself a Porsche 911 Turbo. When
I get back to the Isle of Man, I'll go and collect it.


WHAT WAS IT LIKE OUT THERE WITH 30,000 UNION JACKS AND BRITISH FANS?

Absolutely mega! It's something I've dreamed of since being in Carl
Fogarty's huge shadow. Seeing that and wanting it to be for me and now
I've come here today and it's there. Not everyone is a Hodgson fan out
there but it means the world to me and is very special.


WHAT DID CARL FOGARTY SAY TO YOU ON THE GRID FOR RACE 2?

He was actually very nice and congratulated me. Normally he says
something sarcastic but he said 'Now you'll go a lot better! I could
tell you were tense but I know you'll do well in this race'. Then he was
talking about Holly Jean being born on Tuesday, on the 2nd September
because that's when his first child Danielle was born. Quite a
coincidence really, two world champions, both left-handers, both from
ten miles apart, both started at the same schoolboy motocross club, very
bizarre.


NEXT YEAR WHAT WILL THE WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP BE LIKE, WITH THE
CHANGE IN REGULATIONS?

It's difficult to comment because I don't know what factory support
there will be for the other manufacturers. I hope the factory-supported
teams will be successful and that World Superbikes continues to be
strong. It hurts me to think that it will continue to go down.


IT MUST BE A STRANGE FEELING FOR YOU COMING FROM 500 AND GOING TO GPS
AGAIN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?

It's strange how it all works out, I feel a little bit cheated because I
felt I was quite a good two-stroke rider. In 1995 I was top privateer in
my first year, I was 21 years old and arguably had quite a good future
ahead of me. It all went wrong because I jumped into the most wanted
seat in the paddock on a factory Ducati bike and I wasn't ready. I was
expected to be the man and I wasn't and I lost my job. If you end up in
a situation where you don't think you can win, then you won't and I had
people around me who I thought were better than me, and they were better
only because I thought they were. If you think you can beat people then
you can, it's all mental, I'm convinced about that. Troy Bayliss will
always be successful because he just doesn't care, he enjoys it, Troy is
strong mentally. I feel like I'm always one step behind Troy. I was his
team-mate in 1999 when he won the championship, then I won the year
after. He then got into the factory Ducati team, and I did a couple of
years after. He won the championship, now I've won it. He's gone to
MotoGP and is doing well .....


DO YOU THINK IT'S AN ADVANTAGE THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN IN GPS?

Definitely, because I know what it's like. I've done three years
already, I came to the Assen GP and I know nearly everyone so it's not
daunting in that respect.


IS IT A DISADVANTAGE FOR THE BRITISH RIDERS THAT THEY HAVE SUCH A STRONG
SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP AND THEY HAVE TO GO TO GP?

No, not really, I think it's better to have a strong Superbike
championship because Superbike is always going to be the feeder for
MotoGP. There are no real up-and-coming riders, but when they do come,
if they win in Britain they might have an interesting future in MotoGP.


ENDS
Quote+Reply
  #2  
Old 10-Sep-2003, 18:30
Dukerob's Avatar
Dukerob Dukerob is offline
Registered Forum User
500SD
Bikes: Diavel
 
Posts: 746
Join Date: Mar 2002
Post \'race\' interview with Old Yella

and in a very similar moment....just hours after completing the annual Assen to Rotterdam 'sprint' .....

"kin ell that were quick, who's gerrin' beers in then"
Quote+Reply
  #3  
Old 10-Sep-2003, 19:02
Old Yella Old Yella is offline
Registered Forum User
Big Twin
Bikes: Kawasaki ZX10r D6f, Dawes XC2.4, Planet X Superlight Pro Carbon
 
Posts: 1,428
Join Date: Jul 2002
Mood: aving a laff
Hey Mr Adhesive,
I noticed your hands were stuck in your pockets when I was trawling the many bars looking for you to buy me a pint!

You should have seen me on friday, death warmed up or wot!

Pity I missed you, it might have helped me sleep with all the snoring going on in our cabin I had to wear my earplugs to nod off.

Still trying to catch up on sleep which was the only thing on the holiday I missed

See you soon as you owe me for having to listen to that CD of yours again and again and again ...............
Quote+Reply
  #4  
Old 11-Sep-2003, 13:39
Dukerob's Avatar
Dukerob Dukerob is offline
Registered Forum User
500SD
Bikes: Diavel
 
Posts: 746
Join Date: Mar 2002
aaahhh needs his sleep

now I wandered out of the restaurant on monday night about 11 ish and came looking for you, stopped for a beer with some other mates and spotted you about 12ft away so you were next stop. Finished me pint and came over to BUY YOU A BEER and guess what, no OY, so I presume you were in the land of Nod by then dreaming of 6ft6in blonde Klogentasche ladies.

So having not been there for my round, it must be yours next time we get together eh.

........and just remember those CD's are very rare......

[Edited on 11-9-2003 by Dukerob]
Quote+Reply
  #5  
Old 11-Sep-2003, 23:36
Old Yella Old Yella is offline
Registered Forum User
Big Twin
Bikes: Kawasaki ZX10r D6f, Dawes XC2.4, Planet X Superlight Pro Carbon
 
Posts: 1,428
Join Date: Jul 2002
Mood: aving a laff
My round?

You seem to forget where I come from!
Buy a round, I would rather sell my mum, again!

I got back to the room about 12.30 after trawling the piano bar looking for you, we thought you might be sing-a-long-a-max ing it with the pianist???????

Hang on.
11 o'clock?????
You went in there at about 7.30??
Was there a free bar in there or what?
Quote+Reply
  #6  
Old 12-Sep-2003, 14:07
Dukerob's Avatar
Dukerob Dukerob is offline
Registered Forum User
500SD
Bikes: Diavel
 
Posts: 746
Join Date: Mar 2002
oh yeah, thats right I didn't take me tyre levers with me so there'd be no chance of getting you to cough up for a sherbet or two

I was in the Irish bar about 12ft from where you'd been sat when I arrived, must have just missed you as you left. We left the bar in a wobbly fashion - due to the swell obviously - about 1am, although one of my mates suddenly seemed to get sea sick well he'd spent 2 nights in Groningen and 1 night in Amsterdam, so there's no telling where he'd been inserting it

it was about 9 when we hit the restaurant but most of our lot were f****d so wanted to drip coffee intravenously and head off for some beauty sleep and obviously I don't need any

[Edited on 12-9-2003 by Dukerob]
Quote+Reply
  
Thread Tools
Display Modes
Postbit Selector
Switch to Vertical postbit Use Vertical Postbit

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Recent Posts - Contact Us - DSC Home - Archive - Top
Powered by vBulletin 3.5.4 - Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. - © Ducati Sporting Club UK - All times are GMT +1. The time now is 16:59.