Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson won Saturday’s wet, wild and red-flag-interrupted AMA Superbike race at Road America over Championship leader Mat Mladin and Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes. The original race start was delayed because it started raining just before the scheduled start time. After a short, warm-up session to allow the riders to acclimate themselves to the wet conditions, the race was started and run for eight, wet, incident-filled laps. Aaron Yates led from the start but crashed on the first lap, and Ben Spies took the lead. Behind Spies, Miguel Duhamel crashed in Canada Corner, taking out Eric Bostrom, who had been fastest in the wet warm-up, in the process. Spies then led Hodgson until lap seven when the Yoshimura Suzuki rider pitted for a new rear rain tire, handing the lead to Hodgson over Mladin and Hayes. Shortly after, Mladin pitted for a new rear rain tire and Spies and Jake Zemke crashed out of fourth and fifth, respectively, as the rain intensified. AMA Pro Racing officials then stopped the race due to the weather worsening and backed results up to lap eight to get the final results. For Ducati Austin, it was a second straight race win, and the first AMA Superbike victory for Hodgson. Mladin was happy to increase his Championship point lead with second, and Hayes enjoyed his first-ever AMA Superbike podium finish. All three riders spoke of merely trying to survive in the tough conditions. Crashers Saturday included: Duhamel, Yates, Bostrom, Spies (twice), Zemke, Brent George, Eric Wood, Steve Crevier, Steve Rapp and Cory West. Only Crevier suffered an injury requiring medical attention, hurting his right shoulder. Provisional AMA Superbike Race Results: 1. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 8 laps 2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, -27.420 seconds 3. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, -37.911 seconds 4. Ben Spies, Suzuki, -46.067 seconds 5. Marty Craggill, Suzuki, -59.383 seconds 6. Jake Zemke, Honda, -59.638 seconds 7. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, -85.619 seconds, crash 8. Larry Pegram, Honda, -103.454 seconds 9. John Haner, Suzuki, -108.456 seconds 10. Akira Tamitsuji, Suzuki, -108.220 seconds 11. Francis Martin, Suzuki, -109.383 seconds 12. Clint McBain, Suzuki, -110.952 seconds 13. Jake Holden, Suzuki, -118.338 seconds 14. Tony Meiring, Suzuki, -124.939 seconds 15. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, -127.143 seconds 16. Lee Acree, Suzuki, -127.917 seconds 17. Jeremy Toye, Honda, -138.281 seconds 18. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, -153.976 seconds 19. James Kerker, Honda, -154.938 seconds 20. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, -159.061 seconds, pitted 21. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, -161.141 seconds 22. Brian Boyd, Suzuki, -166.684 seconds 23. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki, -1 lap 24. Eric Haugo, Suzuki, -1 lap, 19.473 seconds 25. Jeff Tigert, Honda, -1 lap, 24.420 seconds 26. David Bell, Suzuki, -1 lap, 40.980 seconds 27. Greg Fryer, Yamaha, -1 lap, 70.955 seconds 28. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki, pitted, -1 lap, 147.452 seconds 29. Brent George, Suzuki, -2 laps, DNF, crash 30. Eric Wood, Suzuki, -3 laps, DNF, crash 31. Steve Crevier, Honda, -4 laps, DNF, crash 32. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -4 laps, crash 33. Cory West, Suzuki, -5 laps, DNF, crash 34. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, -7 laps, DNF, crash 35. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, -8 laps, DNF, crash 36. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, -8 laps, DNF, crash 37. Peter Holsinger, Suzuki, DNS 38. Jason Perez, Yamaha, DNS 39. Geoff May, Suzuki, DNS Provisional AMA Superbike Championship Point Standings: 1. Mladin, 288 points 2. Spies, 268 points 3. Yates, 239 points 4. Hodgson, 237 points 5. Bostrom, 204 points 6. Duhamel, 195 points 7. Craggill, 186 points 8. Zemke, 157 points 9. Acree, 156 points 10. Pegram, 154 points 11. Hayes, 153 points 12. Rapp, 142 points 13. Eric Wood, 131 points 14. Scott Jensen, 116 points 15. Jimmy Moore, 115 points 16. Holden, 101 points 17. West, 99 points 18. Haner, 95 points 19. McBain, 94 points 20. George, 88 points More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin raced to second place in the Elhart Lake AMA Superbike Championship double-header in Winconsin. Heavy rains and overcast skies at the Road America Circuit forced a red flag and a shortened race. And a drama-packed restart saw a number of top riders crash and a few having to pit for tyres. Mladin’s team mate Aaron Yates crashed on the first lap while leading and American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel fell several turns later with Eric Bostrom (Ducati) unable to avoid the sliding bike and following Duhamel into the gravel. Superbike Results: 1. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 3. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki) 4. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 5. Marty Craggill (Suzuki) 6. Jake Zemke (Honda) 7. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 8. Larry Pegram (Honda) 9. John Haner (Honda) 10. Akira Tamitsuji (Suzuki) More, from a press release issued by Proforma: HANER FINISHES NINTH IN ROAD AMERICA SUPERBIKE RACE WITH BROKEN FOOT John Haner of the Lion Racing Suzuki team finished a charging ninth place in today’s red-flagged and rain-soaked Superbike race. John broke the outside metacarpal bone on his left foot in a crash in Friday’s Superstock practice, forcing John onto crutches after x-rays revealed the break. John missed Friday’s Superbike qualifying because of the crash, and was only able to qualify 24th in the Saturday morning qualifying session. He was hoping for a rain race, and he got as the grid was forming for the start. John had a major moment exiting turn one, losing several places, then moved up each lap of the race until it was red-flagged on lap eight of 16. Saturday’s Superbike Final – 9th Place “I had a decent start and went to the inside,” said Haner. “I came out of turn one and I almost highsided. It cost Jake (Holden, teammate) and myself at least 20 positions. I mean, a lot of people went by us. I started picking people off, I just kept looking and saying ‘Who am I going to get next, who’s next, who’s next’. People were crashing all over the place, and I just rode my own race. That’s the craziest rain race I’ve ever been a part of. I almost highsided down the straightaways twice, once on the back straightaway on lap two, and the lap they threw the red flag coming up the front strightaway, it swapped ends. Visibility at the beginning wasn’t bad, then it started pouring and you couldn’t see where the patches were because everything was flooded, so then it became really tricky. The last four laps it was almost impossible to see. I was running along pit wall, because it was the only place that didn’t have spray. The spray was staying in the air, with the trees and all, and there was just mist everywhere. Yeah, with my foot, I was hoping for rain, because it took my mind off everything else. I focused so hard on each corner, that I didn’t worry about my foot. Obviously, it’s broken so it has to hurt, but it was ‘get through it, make some money and move on’. More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin: HODGSON VICTORIOUS AT ROAD AMERICA AS PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN WINS SECOND RACE IN A ROW Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (June 4) – Neil Hodgson of the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team won his first-ever AMA Superbike race in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin on Saturday. Despite treacherous conditions, the Isle of Man resident put in a passionate ride and won the shortened race going away, winning by 27.420 seconds on his Ducati 999. The former British and World Superbike champion raced at an incredible pace in the rain but still managed to keep his machine upright as other riders fell into the Road America gravel traps. “I’m really pleased to win this one because Road America is a difficult race. This was a hard one with the conditions as they were. During the final laps, the conditions were some of the worst I’ve ever had to race in. I took a lot of risks early on and all the way to the finish. I was aquaplaning up the front straight right up until the end, and it was very tough. The team did a great job changing tires, the bike, and everything right before the race when it started to rain.” Hodgson and his Ducati 999 were sliding around the course in a spectacular fashion as the rains fell and the track became slicker as the race progressed. Neil kept the Italian Desmo L-twin under control and upright as his lead continued to expand. “When the adrenaline is in your blood, you actually enjoy riding like that,” said Neil of his wild ride. “Maybe not so much after you get off the bike after the race. The sliding around was a combination of more rain and the tires wearing. I saw ‘plus 18’ on my board about lap five. I thought to myself, ‘I really need to slow down and not do anything stupid’. I thought I did take it a little easier, but the next time around, I saw a ‘plus 27’ or something.” Hodgson continued to pull away when the red flag flew as Neil began to work lap 10 and the race was declared finished. “Neil got the job done in a very impressive way,” said team owner Terry Gregoricka. “He was unbelievable today. He’s ridden hard all season and it was great to see him out in front and leading. As happy as we were, it was terrible for us emotionally in the pits watching him sliding around the track on TV as the laps counted down, mainly because the conditions were so bad and he had a big lead. Congratulations to Neil for getting his first win in the States. For the team, winning two races in a row is a great accomplishment and we are very pleased.” Teammate Eric Bostrom had a disappointing day. Bostrom was quickest in the pre-race warm-up and was in third place and charging towards the front on the first lap. Unfortunately, another rider collected Eric in a crash in Canada Corner. Eric rode his Ducati 999 back to the pits but could not continue. “There’s really not much to say. We were very quick,” said Bostrom, who won a similar race at Elkhart Lake in the rain in 2003. “It was game-on. I was ready to go. Obviously, I’m really happy that Ducati and Neil could win for the team and I’d like to congratulate them. As for us, we were feeling really good about things after the wet session and were charging hard in the race. I thought I had squared up Miguel (Duhamel) to make the pass for second place, because I needed to get by him. But he slowed up more than I thought and he ended up crashing.” “Eric was doing a great job before that incident,” said Gregoricka. “We’re really disappointed for him because he was riding really well and charging toward the front.” Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin will go for three wins in a row tomorrow at 4:00 local time. Results – 1. NEIL HODGSON (PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN 999), 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki), 3. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki), 4. Ben Spies (Suzuki), 5. Marty Cragill (Suzuki), 6. Jake Zemke (Honda), DNF ERIC BOSTROM (PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN 999) AMA Superbike Points (After 9 of 17 races) – 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 288, 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 268, 3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 239, 4. NEIL HODGSON (PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN 999) 237, ERIC BOSTROM (PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN 999) 204, 6. Miguel DuHamel (Honda) 195