NEIL Hodgson's GSE Racing team shrugged off their money worries to complete a successful pre-season test at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa.

Still reeling from the loss of their sponsor INS and a potential shortfall of £1m in their World Superbike budget, Hodgson and team-mate James Toseland were on the pace for the 63-lap session.

The Burnley rider's best time on the factory Ducati 996 was 1m 43.6s, just 1.2 seconds off last year's Superpole time set by Troy Corser, while his team-mate secured a time of 1m 44.3 s during his first outing on a Superbike.

"The bike felt brilliant," said reigning British Superbike champion Hodgson. "At this high altitude they don't appear to have maximum power and I wasn't able to lift the front wheel of my bike on the exit to corners. This made it much easier to ride and helped the power delivery.

"I'm delighted for James, who put in an exceptionally competitive time in only his second outing with the new machine."

Hodgson's performance at Kyalami, venue for the second round of the World Superbike championship on April 1, also impressed his GSE team boss Colin Wright.

He said: "It is early days, and this is a test not a race, but I'm very happy with the performance."