NEIL Hodgson achieved his best results outside Britain with two podium finishes at Laguna Seca yesterday.

The Burnley rider was second in the opening race of the American round of the World Superbike championship and third in the follow-up contest.

Native Californian Ben Bostrom convincingly won both races as the championship chasers failed to make up significant ground on series leader Troy Bayliss.

Hodgson said: "It's a brilliant circuit which has an element of danger that a lot of riders don't like. I do.

"It's up and down, has banked and flat sections and even jumps. It's got everything.

"The next race is at Brands Hatch, which is similar, so you can imagine I'm looking forward to that."

From second on the grid, after narrowly failing to claim his third consecutive Superpole, Hodgson's start was impeccable and he had opened up a gap on Bayliss by the end of lap one.

And by the time the riders on Dunlop tyres had worked their way to the front of the field, Hodgson's lead was approaching two seconds.

That advantage at first appeared impenetrable but, by lap 13, Troy Corser was starting to close in, with Bostrom making headway in third place.

With nine laps remaining the chief threat had become Bostrom and, when Hodgson ran wide at the steep Corkscrew turn, the Ducati star dived inside and into the lead.

The task for Hodgson, as Bostrom pulled clear, was to hold off Corser and pull back four championship points on the Australian.

"My plan for the first race was to follow Bostrom and pass him on the last lap, but it didn't happen like that.

"I got the lead. I had to rethink my strategy, which was to build on my

lead, but I made a mistake.

"That's the only thing that lost me the race win," said Hodgson.

But the points advantage on Corser was short-lived as the Aprilia rider turned the tables on the GSE Ducati man by claiming second in race two.

This time Hodgson's start was not flawless and he was involved in a hair-raising dice for second place with Corser and Edwards.

The American proved particularly difficult to dispose of and, by the time Hodgson went past on the sixth lap, Corser's advantage was too great. All this time, Bostrom, who had stormed out in front, was building a big enough lead to complete a convincing double in front of 91,000 spectators.

Hodgson added: "I really enjoyed that dice but it made me lose my rhythm and burn the tyre a little bit.

"So, after that, it was a bit of a lonely race because it was all over for the last 10 laps and I lost a bit of ground."

But, with Chili out of the points after a bad fall when he ran into Akira Yanagawa's bike after the Japanese rider had been forced off the track by Colin Edwards, Hodgson made ground in the championship standings by moving into fifth place, 20 points behind Bostrom in fourth.