Hodgson in Fogarty’s slipstream
On an unfinished section of motorway - at the cobbled end of the network, comedians would say - it is possible to catch Carl Fogarty and Neil Hodgson training together for a duel which has become the talk of motorcycling.
Fogarty is the world Superbike champion, the life and soul of Ducati for the past two years. Hodgson covets his title, having leapt into the saddle “Foggy” vacated on the Italian factory team when transferring to Honda.
There is little evidence of the rivalry between the 29-year-old Fogarty and his 22-year-old challenger, however, as they steer motocross bikes over the makings of the M65 extension in East Lancashire. Hodgson even borrows one of Fogarty’s machines.
The sessions are a reminder of their beginnings riding over flat, muddy local fields as members of the Vale of Rossendale schoolboy motocross club. Darren Barton, 21, another graduate, recently joined the Aprilia 125cc factory team, so there are now three professional racers living within eight miles of each other. “It must be something in the water,” said Hodgson, who first rode motocross at the age of nine.
Since putting his 500cc grand prix career on hold to accept Ducati’s offer of a two-year Superbike contract, Hodgson has become the focus of attention. He is about to embark on a world tour to test the machine before his contests with Fogarty and the rest over the 14 rounds of the title race, commencing with the April meetings at Misano and Donington Park.