Hodgson's Laguna crash

Neil Hodgson missed the chance to win in front of the MotoGP paddock at Laguna Seca last weekend, when the AMA Superbike championship provided one of the support races for the MotoGP round.

The former MotoGP rider and World Superbike champion had qualified in fourth position for the race and started well before being taken out by another rider at the infamous Corkscrew. He was left to nurse a sore ankle as team-mate Eric Bostrom went on to win the race.

Bostrom was able to control the race despite an early challenge from Suzuki’s Matt Mladin, and a question mark over tyre selection due to limited practice times. Luckily for the American he was able to stay consistent on the Ducati 999, and eventually by 5.91 seconds.

Behind Bostrom came the three Suzukis of Mat Mladin, Aaron Yates and Ben Spies.

The result sees Bostrom overtake Hodgson in the championship standings to move into fourth place. Mladin leads on 358 points, with Spies on 327, Yates on 294, Bostrom on 268 and Hodgson on 249.

There are three rounds of the championship left, with the next race at Mid Ohio on July 22-24.