The second rank saw James Toseland fifth and Rubén Xaus eighth, split by the Foggy FP1 triple of homeland hero Troy Corser, and Gregorio Lavilla’s Suzuki.

Race one saw Hodgson take off in first position, only to be passed by Chili during the lap. The Englishman reclaimed his lead on the start-finish straight, and was followed over the line by Chili, Walker, Lavilla, García, Corser, Régis Laconi, Toseland, Xaus and Steve Martin. Eight of the top ten bikes were Ducati twins.

Before long a gap began to build up behind fourth placed Lavilla, with a fastest lap helping Toseland come through from eighth into fifth. The youngster was already stretching away from García and Corser when a fairing panel went missing from his HM Plant machine. Meanwhile, Corser’s team-mate James Haydon managed to run off the course on his FP1 triple.

Towards the front, a battle was developing between Lavilla and Walker, with the Spaniard moving ahead over the start line, but immediately coming under attack himself. This action allowed Hodgson and Chili to edge away, but then Frankie’s engine started to smoke, and he had to pull up. It was his third consecutive no-score, from three starts.

By this time the tussle for fifth was headed by Xaus, up from ninth, with Laconi, Corser, Marco Borciani, Martin and Ivan Clementi next. Surprise front row man García had already dropped to eleventh. Before long, both Xaus and Corser were able to pass Toseland for fourth, with the orange bike’s fairings now virtually gone, and the under part hanging down onto the tarmac.

As the race progressed, the field began to get more spaced out on the track. Hodgson was on his own, there was another gap behind the Lavilla-Walker duo, the Suzuki man now ahead, and then came Xaus, who was pulling clear of Corser. Toseland came under attack from Laconi, and the DFX Ducati pair of Borciani and Martin were disputing eighth. Toseland seemed to get used to the handling of his damaged bike, and was able to re-pass Corser for P5. The Australian immediately came under pressure from Laconi.

The main source of excitement was with the continued fight for second between Walker and Lavilla, with ‘the Stalker’ finally getting ahead on the inside of a right-hand bend, at fifteen laps remaining. Gregorio continued to push, and managed to repay the compliment on the main straight. All the time, Hodgson was growing more and more distant, whilst his former team-mate, Toseland, finally had to call it a day thanks to the damage on his bike.

The other Fila Ducati was making good progress, and Xaus was closing in on Lavilla and Walker. This became a three-way engagement, with Walker once again moving through on Lavilla. But Xaus was ready to make his attack, and used the same moment to get past the other two in one move. Lavilla followed his compatriot past Walker, and continued with an assault to regain second.

Lavilla carried on his impressive showing, and overtook Xaus on the inside of a fast left-hand bend. This allowed the pursuing HM Plant Ducati to close in again. From here on, though, Walker dropped back into the field, his softer tyres fading badly. Xaus re-passed the Suzuki on the straight, only for Lavilla to audaciously repeat his previous move. This spurred the Ducati man on, and he made it stick on the outside of turn one, before pulling away to secure a 999 one-two.

Hodgson duly recorded his third straight victory, with Xaus and Lavilla secure in positions two and three. The struggle for fourth went to Martin, after he made it through on Corser, leaving the Australian to successfully fend off Laconi. Walker ended up seventh, with García recovering to eighth.

In race two, Hodgson again went straight into the lead, from Chili, Walker and Laconi. Just behind them came García, Lavilla, Xaus, Toseland, Martin, Corser, Haydon, Mauro Sanchini and Lucio Pedercini. It wasn’t long before Lavilla relegated García to sixth place, whilst Toseland passed Xaus, and Corser did the same to Martin. In the lead group, Laconi put pressure on Walker, and this became a six-way affair when Lavilla and Corser moved up behind them, the latter from tenth.

Lavilla’s progress saw him past Laconi for fourth, whilst the Frenchman’s Caracchi NCR Ducati team-mate, García, suffered a fall that disappointingly ended his early promise. As in the first race, Hodgson and Chili made it a two man leading battle, and Lavilla and Walker echoed their previous dispute for third. Behind Laconi were two more Ducatis, as Xaus and Toseland surged into pursuit of their respective team leaders. Very soon this meant there was a group of six at the head of the race, with Lavilla setting a fastest lap in his chase of Chili.

The impressive Suzuki made it ahead of Frankie’s PSG-1 machine at turn one, and soon Walker also went around the Italian, although they managed to touch in the process. Xaus meant to join the leading contenders, and he set another fastest time as he went through into fifth, at the expense of Laconi. All of this resulted in Lavilla, Walker, Chili and Xaus racing together, with Hodgson remaining just ahead. Laconi was still fifth, but with Toseland, Corser, Clementi, Borciani, Sanchini and Martin now following.

The action wasn’t about to let up, and we had Xaus passing Chili, Walker passing Lavilla, and then Laconi passing Chili in quick succession. All of this played into the hands of Xaus, who went three-wide on the main straight, as Lavilla moved back in front of Walker, and was able to get ahead of both his rivals, and right into second place. This time, Hodgson was not too far away, and the Spaniard sped up as he closed on the other red bike. Lavilla managed to go with him.

The group disputing fourth continued spiritedly, with Laconi passing Walker, Chili trying to follow, Walker getting back ahead, and then both Laconi and Chili pushing him back into P6. Then Chili took himself past the number 55 machine, whilst Walker now found team-mate Toseland coming at him. Next up were Corser and Martin. The first three, meanwhile, were starting to space out a bit, as Xaus’ pace meant he dropped Lavilla and the GSX-R Suzuki.

Toseland overtook Walker next, and they went on to change places on a couple of further occasions. At this stage, Lavilla’s valiant effort came to nought, and he began to drop places. Before long he was behind the HM Plant duo, which amounted to seventh position. Up at the front there was a real race going on as the laps ran out. Xaus began to really push Hodgson, and he found a way through on the inside for one of the right-handers. Neil re-passed on the start line, but it now looked like being a very close one.

It seemed as though maybe Hodgson was in trouble, and that Xaus was perhaps just tracking him, but it was all resolved on the final lap. Although Rubén made a concerted attack, and got very close, it was the Englishman who held on for his fourth victory. Behind the Fila machines came Chili, who had recently regained third from Laconi. Then there was a near photo finish for fourth, with Toseland, Walker and Lavilla finishing together, but in that order. Corser picked up a third top eight finish by coming home next.

Although Hodgson and Xaus finished one-two for the fourth time, the Spaniard is now looking much improved, so perhaps we can now expect a bit of a race for the title. Nevertheless, a Ducati must surely triumph.

Standings after four races: Hodgson 100; Xaus 80; Walker 48; Lavilla 44; Martin 41; Toseland 40; Laconi 34; Corser 28; Borciani 26 and Pedercini 23.

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