Engine failure mars Hodgson's revival

An engine failure marred an heroic effort by Neil Hodgson, Britain's world superbike champion, in the Spanish round of the MotoGP series at Jerez yesterday.

An engine failure marred an heroic effort by Neil Hodgson, Britain's world superbike champion, in the Spanish round of the MotoGP series at Jerez yesterday.

The 30-year-old Lancashire rider battled from 18th place on the grid to seventh position in only nine laps on a rain-soaked track, before his Ducati broke for the second event in succession. "The engine went completely flat when I came out of turn two," he said. "I felt like I'd lost 150 horsepower." Hodgson, who reached eighth place within three laps, added: "At least this has given me the confidence to know that I can ride with this level of competition."

Honda's Sete Gibernau and Max Biaggi gained revenge over their Yamaha rival Valentino Rossi by finishing first and second in the 27-lap race. Rossi, who won the opening round of the series in South Africa, was fourth behind Honda's Alex Barros, missing a podium finish for the first time in 24 races.

Gibernau leads the championship with 41 points, one ahead of Biaggi, and three in front of Rossi.

The Italian Michel Fabrizio scored the first championship points for Britain's WCM team, who are operating with the smallest budget of the 12 teams in MotoGP. Fabrizio crashed and remounted at one-third distance, but still finished 10th despite a 40-horsepower disadvantage over other bikes.