Motourage

The dates and venues for the 2012 Ducati 848 Challenge have now been announced with a calendar incorporating some of the best circuits both in the UK and the European mainland.

The Ducati 848 Challenge will again consist of eight rounds and 16 races, including six British Superbike rounds, as well as the now-traditional two overseas rounds. The series kicks off at the British Superbikes opener at Brands Hatch on April 6 before returning to Assen for a third consecutive year on the May 11. The Championship then makes its first visit to the Snetterton 300 circuit before heading to Misano and the famous World Ducati Week.

The second half of the season is equally enticing as the Championship heads to Oulton Park and Donington Park for the first time, with Cadwell Park sandwiched in between before the end of season finale at Ducati UK’s home circuit, Silverstone on the September 29-30.

The 2012 Calendar gives Ducati 848 Challenge riders a fantastic selection of circuits with three World Championship circuits in the UK but also the two away rounds at Assen held during the Ducati Club Races, Europe’s biggest amateur race meeting followed by a trip to Misano during the biannual Ducati festival, World Ducati Week attended by 60,000 passionate Ducatisti.

The Ducati 848 Challenge heads into its third year, firmly established amongst race fans as one of the premier one-make series seen on UK circuits. 2011 saw some incredibly close and exciting racing and 2012 promises to see more of the same. Again the winner of the Championship will receive an 848EVO while second prize will consist of a full set of Ducati riding gear and third prize a set of Ducati leathers.

Neil Hodgson takes over the reins of Series Ambassador and will be present to mentor some of the younger riders as well as offer advice to those more experienced competitors.
April 7-9: Brands Hatch Indy (BSB)
May 11-13: Assen TT (DCN
May 25-27: Snetterton 300 (BSB)
June 22-24: Misano (WDW)
July 6-8: Oulton Park (BSB)
August 25-27: Cadwell Park (BSB)
September 7-9: Donington Park GP (BSB)
September 28-30: Silverstone GP (BSB)

Neil Hodgson and Jake Holden finished out the 2009 Superbike season right behind each other with fifth and sixth place finishes respectively at the New Jersey Motorsports Park venue finale.  In front of a terrific crowd for the first ever event at the new facility and with almost ideal weather, both riders overcame earlier problems to get on the pace and up in the front pack for an exciting finish to the season.  The race also marked the last ever for multi-time AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin.  Mat’s skill and determination will be missed.  We wish him the best in his retirement endeavors.

The weekend did not start well for the team with problems for both riders, electrical gremlins for Jake and set-up issues for Neil.  Jake, who had never been to the facility before, struggled to get up to speed with minimal track time caused by a hard to trace misfire at high rpm.  The problem was to plague his practices all weekend and keep him from his usual fast qualifying.  Neil, who had tested at the track earlier in the season, was not able to capitalize on that experience and had a hard time quickly finding a bike set-up that worked for him.

Neil was able to get the bike sorted for final qualifying and posted third fastest time of the day, 1:21.710, and into Superpole.  Unfortunately his Superpole lap, 1:22.649, was not nearly as good as the time earlier and he lost grid positions ending in seventh.  Jake qualified in fifteenth having missed most of the qualifying session with the electrical problems.

Race one was a lesson in frustration for both riders.  Neil had crashed in qualifying practice wrecking his bike and requiring the crew to rebuild it from the frame up for the race.  Jake almost missed the start when an engine mapping problem appeared on the warm-up lap.  He was able to make it to the start just in time after frantic work by the crew.  Neither Neil nor Jake were able to get up to speed in the race and their finishes were not helped by poor starts.  Both struggled getting by slower riders and neither was able to match times posted in qualifying.  The final finishes were eleventh for Jake and thirteenth for Neil.

In the second race the story was much better.  After a red flag on the first lap and full race restart both riders were up in the lead pack and stayed within striking distance of the leaders for the entire race.  Hodgson crossed the strip for the first time in 5th and held that position until lap 17 when Larry Pegram managed to get by.  Neil held 6th position for three laps until gaining 5th again when Tommy Hayden crashed. Hodgson held that position until the end of the race. Neil’s best lap time was 1:21.879.

Jake Holden also had a much better second race, benefiting from the track time gained in race one!  Holden crossed the stripe in 9th for the first lap, having made up six positions from his start. He held that position until lap four when he passed Cory West for 8th. West managed to retake that position on lap 10. On lap 14 Holden passed Blake Young to take back 8th.  He moved up again on lap 21 when Hayden crashed. The next lap Holden passed West to take 6th a position he held until the end of the race. He posted his best lap time of 1:21.532, the fourth fastest lap of the race, ably showing what a quick learner Jake is.

Jake finished the season championship points standing in tenth place with Neil right behind in eleventh.

The event ended with the traditional end-of-season Corona party held in the Officers Club at the New Jersey Motorsports Park.  The event was supported by all the major teams, the venue and AMA.  The event finished in the wee hours and provided an enjoyable close to the season.

In its “Race to the Lime” Corona Extra Honda Racing is proud to be partnering with; Parts Unlimited, Cycle Gear, Pro Honda Oils, AGV, FMF, Autolite, Hotbodies Racing, K&N, Motion Pro, Vortex, Dainese, GPR, Ogio, CR&A, RK, Dunlop, JE Pistons, Powerstands, Bellco, Adran, K&L, HRC, Acme Garage, Vicci, Fluid Designs, Shock Doctor, EBSCO Media, MTS.

In the third and final clip from the Corona Extra Honda Q&A session from the AMA Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at VIR, Neil Hodgson finishes up his talk with some insight from Corona Extra Honda president Tim Saunders.  What have we learned from this session? Well, for one thing, not even Neil Hodgson knows how fast Neil Hodgson goes.

Today’s Motourage Video of the Day is part 1 of the Neil Hodgson Q&A session at VIR.  As part of the Motourage Celebrity Weekend at VIR, we were treated to a Q&A at the Corona Honda garage.  Neil Hodgson, current Corona Honda rider – and former British Superbike and World Superbike champion -  demonstrates why his personality and sense of humor have made him a fan favorite the world over.  Neil talks about his life as a racer and why he’ll never race the Isle of Man TT.

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.