4:20pm Wednesday 21st July 2010
Exclusive By Chris Flanagan
In the third chapter of an exclusive four-part series with Neil Hodgson, the Burnley superbike legend describes how he coped with the pressure during his World Superbike Championship triumph in 2003, as his finally reached the pinnacle of his sport.
AS Jenson Button desperately attempted to cling on to his lead in last season’s Formula 1 World Championship, Neil Hodgson watched on with interest. He knew the feeling.
The Burnley rider reached the pinnacle of his career in 2003 by winning the World Superbike Championship with Ducati.
He had returned to the series with GSE Racing in 2001, the season after he had taken the British title.
Having failed on the world stage earlier in his season, this time it was different.
“I felt that for the first time I belonged in a world championship event,” said Hodgson.
“In the past I felt like I was lucky to be there, I almost felt like a fraud and thought I was going to get found out because I wasn’t good enough.
“But the second time around I thought, ‘This is where I belong and I’m going to show everyone that I can win this as well’.”
He finished fifth in 2001, improving to third a year later.
Hodgson believes he would have beaten Colin Edwards to the title that year, had the American not been on a better bike.
In 2003 Hodgson joined the Ducati works team. He was ready to become world champion.
Incredibly, he won 11 of the first 12 races. After that it should have been easy. It was far from it.
Just like Button, the early season wins dried up. His seemingly unassailable lead was slipping away, and Hodgson was feeling pressure like never before.
“That year was incredible,” recalls the 36-year-old, now retired.
“I won the first nine races in a row, which was a record. I was on fire.
“Then I had a bit of bad luck and crashed. I started to get a bit nervous and ride a bit tight.
“I’d already pretty much won the championship, but I had a bad run.”
Like Button, who batted away constant suggestions that the pressure was getting to him during the second half of last year, Hodgson smiled for the cameras.
He could not admit to his closest rival, Spaniard Ruben Xaus, that he was struggling.
“You work so hard, do really well and get all these good results, then you can see literally your lifetime goal there,” said Hodgson.
“There’s only one person who can mess it up and it’s you. It’s a horrible feeling.
“Every time you ride the bike you’re tense. If you crash you’ve just lost 25 points, so you ride slower.
“When you should be winning you’re battling for third, and then you’ve got more chance of crashing. Mentally it was very draining.
“At the time you’re not enjoying it because there’s so much stress and pressure. Ask Jenson Button.
“When you’re on camera you say, ‘Oh no, everything’s great’. Inside you’re still paranoid about the next race.
“I knew exactly what Jenson was going through. What is he going to say?
“He’s not going to say, ‘Yes, I’m absolutely bricking myself, I don’t even want to go to the next race I’m that nervous’.
“You just say, ‘No, I’m enjoying these races’. It’s the standard interview, the game of two halves interview. You talk and say nothing basically.
“But you definitely enjoy it more when you finally win the title after that.
“When I started racing I didn’t really dream about being world champion because I didn’t think that would be possible. I just wanted to win at whatever I was doing.
“Some people tell stories of having dreams when they were six, picturing themselves being world champion, but that never happened to me.”
The title was sealed at Assen in the Netherlands. To celebrate, he unveiled a T-shirt enscribed with the words ‘Who’s the daddy?’. He had become a father for the first time just a week earlier.
After becoming world champion, Hodgson moved on to MotoGP to take on Valentino Rossi et al. He finished 17th in his one and only season.
“I really struggled,” he admits. “I got into a really bad Spanish team, which was underfunded.
“Unfortunately they lost their sponsor right before the first race. They just said, ‘We have no parts and no money, we’re sorry’.
“Riding against Rossi is hard, but when you’re riding against Rossi on inferior machinery you’re knackered.
“I hated it. It was probably the worst year of my career, because I was at the top of my game.
“MotoGP is a really hard championship. I got one year at it and didn’t do well because I was in the world’s worst team.”
“I wish I’d stayed in Superbikes. If I’d done that I would have won another championship, definitely.
“But I really can’t complain about my career.”
Click on the link below to read the previous chapters of Neil Hodgson's life story.
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