HODGSON AND BOSTROM BATTLE THROUGH CHALLENGING DAY IN BIRMINGHAM
Leeds (Alabama) 22 April 2006: Neil Hodgson and Ben Bostrom
had a difficult day on the Parts Unlimited Ducati 999s in
Birmingham on Saturday. Hodgson finished sixth in the 28-lap
race, gaining several positions after a poor start. Ben Bostrom
was ninth as he continued to feel ill in what has been a challenging
weekend for the former series champion.
Hodgson ran in a group of three riders that fought for fourth
place in the race won by Ben Spies. Although he was not happy
with his result, Neil did gain valuable championship points
and is now tied for fourth in the standings. "We made
up some spots, but that was the limit. I'm disappointed and
we're going to try some things for tomorrow. Unfortunately,
with the bike we had today with me riding on this track, those
lap times were about as fast as we could go. I got a bad start
and lost some positions at the beginning. We were well off
the pace it took to win the race. We expect to do much better
than that. We'll never give up, though. Tomorrow, we'll make
some changes to the bike and look to find some time."
Ben Bostrom was ninth in the first race in a weekend that
has seen him nauseous. "I felt really bad again today
and it made it hard to race for 28 laps. It's no excuse for
where we finished, though because I wanted to do better and
fire up the fans in the Ducati Corner that were cheering us
on. We raced with some guys out there and I would have liked
to beaten them to the line. (Aaron) Yates looked a bit like
me out there, struggling. Tomorrow, we'll add more transfer
to the rear and hope to do better."
Tomorrow's 28-lap race begins at 3 PM local time.
Results: 1. Ben Spies, Suzuki 2. Mat Mladin,
Suzuki 3. Jake Zemke, Honda 4. Miguel DuHamel, Honda 5. Tommy
Hayden, Kawasaki 6. Neil Hodgson, Parts Unlimited Ducati 7.
Aaron Yates, Suzuki 8. John Haner, Suzuki 9. Ben Bostrom,
Parts Unlimited Ducati 10.Jason Pridmore, Suzuki
Points (after two races): 1.Ben Spies, Suzuki
70 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki 70 3. Miguel DuHamel, Honda 56 4.
Jake Zemke, Honda 52 4. Neil Hodgson, Parts Unlimited Ducati
52 4. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki 52 7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki 49
8. Ben Bostrom, Parts Unlimited Ducati 46 9. Jason Pridmore,
Suzuki 43 10. Cory West, Suzuki 34
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