CARL Fogarty is streamlining his attempts to capture a third World Superbike crown ahead of round three of the 1998 Championship at Monza on Sunday.

The Blackburn ace has been working on the aerodynamics of his Ducati, making adjustments to his racing position, in a test session with his team in Milan.

And he is now confident things are in shape for a crack at bouncing back from the disappointments of the last round at Donington when bad weather scuppered his chances.

The Ducati racer was the joint leader of the championship going into the British leg after a sensational start to the season in Australia.

But he lost ground in front of his home fans finishing seventh in the first race and third in race two, leaving him 25 points adrift of leader Noriyuki Haga.

Niggling problems have since been ironed out and he is now focused on the job of clawing back the Yamaha star's championship lead. "I have dropped a lot of points which I cannot afford to do if I want to be the champion," said Fogarty.

"I was disappointed with how things went at Donington. "But it was more me and a bit of bad luck than any real problems with the bike which wrecked my chances.

"I did some testing last week which went alright, though, because there were six other Superbike riders there and I was the fastest."

And provided he suffers no technical difficulties, he is confident he will be in the shake up in what are surely to be two very closely fought races.

"Monza is a good track which is very fast and flat and I have always done well there.

"If the bike is fast enough on the day to compete with the Yamahas and Kawasakis then we will be alright.

"But I don't want to make the same mistakes as I did at Donington.

"They will be tough races though and I expect there to be a lot of battles."

Fogarty will be roared on by a vociferous home crowd, supporting his Italian based Ducati team, but he does not expect that to be much of an advantage.

"That won't make too much difference because it feels like home wherever I go because of the fantastic British support which follows us around."

Meanwhile, Neil Hodgson is going into Sunday's race full of confidence despite his disastrous start to the season.

The 24-year-old endured a frustrating weekend in front of his home fans at Donington, trailing in 12th in the first race and mechanical problems forced him to retire from race two.

But a two-day test session at Suzuka in Japan with Kawasaki team mate Akira Yanagawa has given the Burnley ace a much needed confidence boost. "The testing in Japan went really well. I didn't break any lap records or anything but I gradually started to get quicker on the bike," said Hodgson.

"It was just nice to get a couple of days with the bike out on the track in a situation without any pressure."

Hodgson is currently lying in 13th place in the championship overall with just 12 points.

Injury kept him out of the Italian round last year.

But Monza remains one of his favourite tracks and provided he encounters no problems with the bike he is hopeful of putting his Donington nightmare firmly behind him.

"I don't know why, but I wasn't able to get the throttle open early enough and that's crucial at Donington.

"It was only when I got into the second race that I began to get the feel required to push myself and the bike to the limit.

"But the testing since has really helped my confidence.

"Monza is a superb track. It is fast, has lots of character and is good for slipstreaming."

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