Neil Hodgson Hangs Up His Leathers and Announces Retirement Today

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Neil Hodgson on the #100 Team Ducati Parts Unlimited 999R goes through turn 14 at Road America in qualifying for the 2006 round of the AMA Superbike Series' annual trek to the beautiful track in Elkhart Lake, WI. Hodgson won the '00 British Superbike Championship and the '03 World Superbike Championship while riding for Ducati. Neil also rode for Team Honda on the factory team in 2008 and for the satellite effort Corona Honda in a one-off ride in '07 and for the partial season that he wasn't injured in 2009. He will be missed on the track by one and all!
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The #100 Team Ducati Parts Unlimited 999R of Neil Hodgson sits under the awning in the team's paddock area at Road America in June of 2006. Hodgson won race one at Road America in 2005 on a similar bike in a roaring downpour of a rainstorm that saw the race called a little over half-way in. Hodgson was later quoted in Cycle News as just 'being a passenger on a projectile' (or to that effect) when speaking about the horrendous conditions that prevailed in that race. 2006 would be his best overall year in terms of points finishes when he got 5th in the AMA Superbike Championship.
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Neil Hodgson pushed the Team Austin Ducati Parts Unlimited #100 superbike into turn 14 during the running of race 2 at Road America in June of '05. Hodgson won the previous day's race in a pouring rainstorm that was called due to not only a torrential downpour but due to lightning in the area as well. Hodgson was a great representative of the racing community and went out of his way to talk to fans and sign autographs. I had the pleasure of speaking with him a couple of times while shoving 8x10 shots in front of him that I had taken of him in action and he was a pure gent and joy to talk to and with. He will be missed on the track and we can only hope that sometime in the near future he ends up in a race team capacity that brings him back to his fans here in the States. Great to have talked with him when I got the chance! God Bless you Neil, your demeanor, style and bravado will be missed on the track as well as in the paddock. We wish you nothing but the best of luck in your future endeavors and life's pursuits!
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Neil Hodgson on the #100 Team Honda CBR1000RR chases Jamie Hacking on the #2 Team Monster Kawasaki ZX-10R at Road America during race one action in June of 2008. This is in the turn 10/11 areas of the chicane off of the carousel that leads into the back straight. Hodgson sat out the better part of the '07 season except for some testing rides and a 'one-off' AMA Superbike ride at Laguna Seca for Team Corona Honda. He raced for the official factory squad teamed with former '95 AMA Superbike Champion Miguel Duhamel in '08. While riding for the Corona satellite team in '09 he injured his shoulder in a motocross training accident that ultimately led to his retirement announcement today after a try at British Superbikes again for 2010. He crashed during the warm up session at Brands in the opening round and severely re-injured his shoulder predicating the retirement news today.
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News from across the pond hit today that Neil Hodgson, the '00 British Superbike Champion and '03 World Superbike Champion would be hanging up his leathers due to the lingering effects of his injured shoulder that had put him out of action for the better part of the '09 AMA Superbike Championship. Hodgson launched his Rob Mac Motorpoint Yamaha R1 at Brands a few weeks back and landed on the same shoulder. After consulting with several specialists, Neil announced his retirement today as a result of that lingering injury.
He will be missed by one and all and we hope that sometime down the road Neil will end up in some racing capacity that will see him back here in the States again. He has been a true champion and spokesperson for the sport and it would benefit whomever he would be involved with as a rider coach and/or team liason. The level of professionalism and enthusiasm that he has brought to the sport, his sponsors and his fans is unparalled. The man is a true gem.
Thanks for the memories and for your great resolve on and off the track Neil! You will be missed but you will never be forgotten!
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Thanks to Paul Carruthers at CycleNews.com for this rendering of Neil's retirement announcement today:
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/04/22/hodgson-retires
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The official World Superbike site has their version of '03 World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson's retirement announcement from today:
http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/latest-news/3088-former-wsb-champion-hodgson-retires.html
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David Swarts over at John Ulrich's bitchin' RoadRacingWorld.com has an in depth talk with Neil, what led to the decision to retire, and his outlook on his most brilliant future:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=40191
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And finally, Dean Adams over at SuperBikePlanet.com waxes poetic on the retirement of Neil Hodgson:
http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Apr/100222-100.htm
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Neil Hodgson Talks About Return to Brands for BSB Opener This Weekend

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Neil Hodgson on the #100 Parts Unlimited Ducati 999R comes out of the turn 9 area for the run into 10 and into the blind uphill left under the pedestrian bridge during qualifying for the Honda Super Cycle Weekend at Lexington, OH. in July of 2005. Hodgson came to the U.S. in '05 after winning the British Superbike Championship in 2000 and the World Superbike Championship in 2003. He won race one at Road America in a downpour that was red flagged just over half way into the 16 lap final approximately six weeks before the Mid Ohio event shown here. His return to British Superbikes is America's loss, and we look for him to do well in the Rob Mac Motorpoint Yamaha team this year and wish him the very best!
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The great blokes across the pond at the British Superbike Series Blog have a post from former British and World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson talking about his return to Brands Hatch for this weekend's season kick off for the BSB series. With Neil back in the UK we look to see him up at the front on the Rob McElnea-run Motorpoint Yamaha team with top notch equipment at their hands in the form of the new generation crossplane R1.
Here's what Neil has to say in anticipation of returning to the scene of some of his greatest wins in front of his home crowd. We miss him here in the States already. Good luck and ride safe, Neil, and get back on top of that box!
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/british-superbikes/2010/04/my-brands-hatch-hopes.html
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You can follow the BSB series here at their official link. Action kicks off tomorrow!
http://www.britishsuperbike.com/
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Here's the link to the weekend schedule in PDF form:
http://www.britishsuperbike.com/media/1170145/timetable%20bh1%20v2.pdf
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It's Official--Neil Hodgson Headed Back Home Across the Pond to BSB Series...

As was reported a little over 5 days ago by various entities, Neil Hodgson, who captured

the 2000 British Superbike Championship as well as the 2003 World Superbike Championship,

and had been riding for the better part of the last 5 seasons in America, will be jumping back

across the pond to contest the British Superbike Championship again for the 2010 season while

riding for ex-racer Rob McElnea's Motorpoint Yamaha team.

Having ridden in the U.S. in '05 and '06 for the Parts Unlimited Ducati team, sitting out the better part of the '07 season without a ride albeit his one-off appearance at Laguna, and then having ridden for Team Honda the last 2 years, Neil was left rideless after Honda pulled out

of the AMA series for the 2010 season. And with other major factories and teams also doing so,

Neil was reported to be over checking the landscape for the 2010 season some weeks ago.

The official releases below are thanks to the great people at http://www.motorcyclenews.com/,

http://www.speedtv.com/, http://www.crash.net/ and the Official site of the British Superbike Series,

http://www.britishsuperbike.com/. The deserve a major thanks for their efforts for making this news available to all of us.

While you are checking out the official news from those sources, the shots above were taken

at Mid Ohio and Road America during the '05, '06 and '08 seasons. From the top at Road America in '08 inside the paddock and a look at Honda's stable of CBR1000RR superbikes

for Neil's use that year. Just below is the set up as maintained for Neil by the Part Unlimited

Ducati at Road America in 2006. This was their last official year in AMA Superbike until they

came back with Larry Pegram to win some races this year in the newly formed American

Superbike series. The third shot is Neil in action during qualifying at Road America going into

turn 14 in '05, followed by Neil just out of turn 10 at Road America during Superbike race 1

in 2008. Lastly is Neil leading his team mate, Eric Bostrom, during Superbike race 2 of the

2005 race weekend at Mid Ohio.

We definitely wish Mr. Hodgson the very best. We got to talk with him a couple of short times

over these years and the man was not only very approachable, but a deep pleasure to talk to.

Very personable, congenial, and that sharp British wit. Not to mention being able to do a hell

of a job on a modern day superbike. Neil, you will be missed, but not forgotten. Get back home

and kick some ass. God Bless ya mate! And thanks for all the memories.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/British-Superbikes/2009/November/nov1109-Neil-Hodgson-signs-for-Motorpoint-Yamaha/

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/British-Superbikes/2009/November/nov1109-Motorpoint-Yamaha-back-from-the-brink/

http://www.crash.net/british+superbikes/news/154592/1/neil_hodgson_back_in_british_superbike.html

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-sbk-hodgson-talks-bsb-return

http://www.britishsuperbike.com/news/hodgson-talks-ama,-testing-and-bsb-fans.aspx