Motourage

Corona Honda's Neil Hodgson & Jake Holden

Corona Extra Honda riders Jake Holden and Neil Hodgson put in solid performances at the hot and humid Virginia International Raceway this past weekend.  Both riders struggled with traction problems but still Jake came away with seventh and tenth place finishes; Neil eleventh and eighth.

As usual, both Neil and Jake got up to speed in the first on-track session posting fifth and 12th respectively. Hodgson turned a time of 1:26.129. Holden posted a time of 1:27.510 after having gearing problems throughout the session.  In qualifying, both went into Super Pole.  Hodgson improved upon his morning times with a 1:25.807 for 6th.  Holden posted a flyer on his last lap moving him from 12th to ninth to guarantee his spot.  He also improved on his morning time with a 1:26.139.

Superpole saw Hodgson improving for fifth on the grid after posting a 1:26.431 on Friday afternoon.  Holden had problems and had to settle for the 10th starting position after posting a time of 1:26.980.  Times for all riders were slower than the times posted in basic qualifying.

In race one of the double header, both Neil and Jake fought through from bad starts to move up the race order.  Holden followed Hodgson across the stripe to complete lap one in 12th place.  Both riders passed Jeff Wood during the next lap.  Holden then got around his teammate on lap three but gave up a position to Knapp while Geoff May crashed on lap four to move both riders up a position.  Larry Pegram ran off-track on lap five to move both riders up another position, and Holden managed to get around Laverty on lap eight to take the seventh spot.  Hodgson gave up 10th to Pegram on lap 10, but managed to take back that position during the next lap.  On lap 12, Holden battled with Knapp, taking the seventh spot and holding that position until the end of the race.  Jeff Wood passes on lap 19, moving him down to 10th place, where he finished the race.  Holden turned his best lap time of 1:26.612 in lap 13.  Hodgson turned his best lap time 1:27.231 in lap 7.

Both Corona Extra Honda Racing riders got good starts during the Sunday round.  Neil Hodgson finished lap one in eighth and battled with Ben Bostrom for the next two laps swapping positions each lap.  On lap four, both Hodgson and Bostrom passed Jeff Wood.  Hodgson then gave up positions to Taylor Knapp on lap six and Aaron Yates on lap seven.  He managed to catch and pass Matt Mladin bringing home an eighth place finish but not before taking a 150 MPH excursion through the grass for the entire length of the straight.  Holden crossed the line at the end of lap one in 10th and held that position until giving up a spot to Knapp on lap three.  Two laps later, Holden passed Wood for 10th and held that position until the end of the race.

For more information, please visit Corona Extra Honda Racing online at www.corona-racing.com.