The American Honda team of Neil Hodgson and Miguel Duhamel began the second half of the AMA Superbike season with a difficult race in the combined AMA/MotoGP weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Hodgson finished seventh and Duhamel tenth in the Superbike race held just after the 11th round of the MotoGP World Championship.
Running with the MotoGP class gives added exposure, but at a cost. Rather than the usual allocation of practice and qualifying, the AMA Superbikes were limited to two half hour practice sessions prior to Sunday morning qualifying. With cool, foggy weather in the mornings, and warm afternoons, it made finding a race set-up difficult.
On the third of 28 laps, Hodgson ran afoul of a front end issue. The Englishman wasn't sure if it was a bad front tire or front suspension problem. Either way, the front end of his CBR1000RR was chattering all over the track. There was little he could do except hang on for the next 25 laps.
In a bid to improve on his 11th place qualifying position, Duhamel and his crew tried a completely different set-up. The gamble didn't pay off. Duhamel was at the back of the five-rider pack contesting fifth, though within striking distance of Hodgson, who was seventh in the pack.
Finishing seventh cost Hodgson third in the championship, which he'd held until now, though he need only wait two weeks for the chance to gain back the position when the series resumes at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Today's race was won by Mat Mladin (Suzuki) from teammate Ben Spies. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) finished third.
Neil Hodgson 7th
It was either a faulty front tire or something went majorly wrong with the front forks. It just felt different from the minute I was on the track. It was chattering it's brains out and I'd had no chatter all weekend. It was just a disaster. From lap three on I thought, oh no, this isn't good. It was hopping across the track. It's the first time we got it majorly wrong. Just a shame it happened in front of the GP crowd. There was nothing I could do. I just had to deal with what I had. Afterwards, the team looked at the data and they couldn't believe I kept on riding. I had to ride really sort of safe. I had to use different lines, I had to turn in early. It was hopping across the track. It was weird, it was really, really weird. It had to be the tire because we didn't change anything in the forks. I haven't had a bad tire all year.
Miguel Duhamel 10th
Today's race went OK. All this weekend we had such limited time. we ventured on to a new set-up which was totally different for us and it was working good. For today's race we changed it significantly, because obviously we want to do well. we're always thinking at least podium. We came a little way from that. But we were right there with Roger (Hayden), Neil (Hodgson), (Jason) DiSalvo and Eric (Bostrom). We were all a train coming in. The bike felt good. I was able to push it pretty hard and knowing that this is a brand new set-up, hopefully we can make it better for the next race and be even more competitive.
American Honda Road Race Manager Ron Heben
A struggling day for the American Honda team. And it started out when we didn't qualify well. It was obviously our goal to run up front and put the CBR1000RR on the box and when we qualified 8th and 11th it makes life difficult with the contingent of riders we have They raced hard, but the set-up wasn't what we like. So we have to go back and look at the data and see where we miscued and get ready for Mid-Ohio.
Superbike:
1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
2. Ben Spies (Suzuki)
3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
4. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)
5. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)
6. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki)
7. Neil Hodgson (Honda)
8. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha)
9. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)
10. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
Championship Standings:
1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 411
2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 375
3. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 319
4. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 317
5. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 288
6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 276
7. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 263
8. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 259
9. Geoff May (Suzuki) 218
10. Scott Jensen (Suzuki) 204