Britais Neil Hodgson took a convincing double win at Valencia in the opening round of the 2003 World Superbike Championship. The Spanish round marked the Superbike debut of Ducats latest creation, the Ducati 999, and Hodgsos two wins, which took his WSB tally to five, were the first time the Isle of Man resident has won races outside his home country.
Shell Advance played an important role in the success of the factory Ducati team once again this weekend, as the riders were able to get the most out of the new bikes throughout every session from Friday until Sunday. Having completed an off-season of hard development with the new Ducati 999, Shell Advance will be looking to build on this opening success both on and off the track, making sure that the constant developments made during the season will benefit bikers all over the world.
In race one Hodgson got a slow start but then passed compatriot James Toseland down the main straightThere was a lot of wind out there today which made the races a bit more physical because you are leaning forward and using the back brake a lot to keep the front wheel down, which was quite scary he declaredThe early stages of race one were quite an experience because you have to get used to the start again after six months of no racing. I was just looking at what everyone else was doing and then made my move
In race two Neil led from start to finish, smashing Ben Bostros lap record from 2002 on the way, to notch up 50 points in the first round of the seasonFastest in every practice session, pole, lap record, double win on my worst track so m so pleased with everything. I made one mistake in race two, when I was braking into the first corner with a back-marker on the inside. He moved to the outside and nearly pushed me off the track so I was screaming in my helmet, thinking it was all over
Xaus slotted in behind Hodgson as he took the lead in race one to finish second and then shadowed his Ducati team-mate throughout race two to repeat the resultEven though the bike is good, all this weekend things have not been working exactly the way I wanted them t declared RubenThe set-up was not 100% and half-way through the race I lost Neil, so I just settled for second place. There wast much I could do today about my team-mate, who rode two excellent races. Is been a hard weekend for me, but I came away with two seconds and 40 points, which is good for the championship
