From a press release issued by d’Antin Ducati:

Xaus, Hodgson positive before Italian GP

This coming weekend the MotoGP World Championship celebrates the fourth round of the season at the Italian Mugello track, a special race for the entire d´Antin MotoGP team. Rubén Xaus and Neil Hodgson have hardly raced here in the past, but know the track well and know that it is held in high esteem by the whole of Italy. For both riders it will be a fantastic occasion to race their Ducati Desmosedici bikes around such an impressive and emblematic setting as this.

The championships have visited Mugello every year since 1991, after a complete overhaul had transformed the circuit complex from top to bottom. It is located around twenty miles away from the historic city of Florence, in the heart of Tuscany. The track rolls through an enclosed valley and is famous for its undulations as well as the enormous straight where the bikes will reach staggering speeds in front of tens of thousands of fans who attend this Grand Prix year in year out.

NEIL HODGSON’s crash in France seemed to put his participation in this race into jeopardy. Neil fractured two ribs, but fortunately his recovery has gone well, “I have to say that I feel much better now, although evidently I’m still not 100% right yet. I’m eager to get back into the action and I’m very excited about going to the Italian Grand Prix. The thing is though, I won’t really be able to see how much progress I’ve made until I get on my Ducati on Friday for first practice and I begin to ride. Mugello isn’t a circuit where you can ride around too relaxed, but in theory I’m optimistic and I have to say that these rest days have helped me a lot.”

RUBÉN XAUS was a little more fortunate than his team-mate and in Le Mans he managed to overcome all the obstacles thrown in his way and take the first points of the season for the team, “In France I managed to finish the race and pick up some valuable experience. Ever since then we have had some rest days, although to be honest I haven’t really stopped at all, and I made the most of the time by training on enduro and supermotard bikes.

Now we come to Mugello, and it’s a circuit I know very well despite not having competed here since 1996 when I was in the Italian Supersport Championship. We used to come here a lot to test the Ducati Superbike however, and so I’ve ridden here on a number of occasions. It’s a great track and it takes a lot out of you, the tyres also suffer quite a bit and you need a good engine. While that’s true you also need to be quick in the corners, and whenever you’re riding a Ducati here you get that added sense of emotion, because it’s the spirit of Italy. The home riders will go very strong here, but I’m hoping to do a good race of my own.”


More, from another press release issued by d’Antin Ducati:

Hodgson’s Ready For Italy MotoGP

Neil Hodgson will race at Mugello Circuit. During last France MotoGP the British rider fell and hurt two ribs, but he has taken advantage of this little break of the season to recover himself and he´s now ready for the race in Italy, which is taking place next weekend.

Neil said: ” Actually, I fell much better, although I am not completly recovered yet. I long for getting back to action and I will make it to Italy full of hope, but I won´t know for sure how recovered I am until I ride my Ducati again. I feel optimistic and I believe this little rest has been good to me.”