Fur Coat/No Knickers? If the twist & twirl has a long and flexy Gervais, then we're Robin Hood image by jimola

It's no secret that the uncertain future of AMA roadracing has induced a state of deep anxiety in many stars of the series. The paychecks for top level riders in America are quite large in comparison to other National series, surpassing the pay grades of most of the World Superbike Paddock, and even some MotoGP salaries. Money is an important consideration for everyone, but there is also the love of the sport, the competition and the rider's lifestyle to factor in. Most of these guys love what they do and want to keep doing it as long as possible, knowing that injury, politics or a lack of performance could cost them a ride at any time.

Soup interviewed several riders at VIR in an effort to present their undiluted thoughts about the current political strife, their hopes and worries. Most expressed frustration, & felt that they had not yet been given an adequate forum to present their views. Up first is American Honda pilot Neil Hodgson, 2003 WSBK and 2000 BSB Champion.

Q Some riders are reportedly looking for opportunities in World Superbike because of what's happening with DMG and the uncertainty over the series next year. You're in a unique position amongst a lot of riders, because you have paper with Honda for next year whether or not they'll be here. But what are your thoughts about riders leaving here and potentially looking for rides in World Superbike or in British Superbike?

A Well, obviously, first of all, I just want to say what a mess it is. It's a complete mess, is all this. And I feel sorry for everybody, and I mean everybody, concerned. All the riders, I feel sorry for all the mechanics, I feel sorry for all the fans. Because this ego standoff we've got is not going to help anybody. It's certainly going to potentially, short-term, totally destroy racing in America. And I know people realize how big that is, but I think people will only realize how big it is when it's actually next year and people aren't racing.

With regards to people looking to race World Superbikes/BSB, obviously, it's understandable. We've mortgages to pay. We race motorcycles because we love doing it, but it's how we make a living, so from a rider's perspective, you've two choices, really. You can start looking for work abroad, or possibly keep your fingers crossed and hope everything works out here, which is, at the moment, it looks it's 50-50, it's on the fence. The problem with World Superbikes, as I see it with my experience, is no one knows anything about America. It's the weirdest thing in racing, but it's not a championship that's really looked... Unfortunately, the way the series is over here, it's not a very well-respected series in the world. So people aren't over-excited at the prospect of getting a lot of AMA riders to go racing in World Superbikes. So subsequently, there won't be very many rides available. So I don't know how easy that will be.

Now, World Supersport's a different thing. There's a lot of teams in World Supersport, and a lot of good little teams in World Supersport, so maybe there's an opportunity for some riders to go in that direction.

Q But not for anybody looking to pay a mortgage.

A No. No. You'd be looking at a... probably at the end of a season, if you came out with 50 grand clear profit, you'd have done incredibly well.

Q And that's not Sterling, obviously.

A No. That's dollars. Yeah. Yeah. There's no great opportunities, really. And BSB's the same. It's what we call in England, or my Dad would call it, "fur coat, no knickers." You understand what that means, I'm sure.

Q Absolutely.

A And that's BSB in one sentence.

Q Hislop rode for free.

A Yeah. The majority of the riders ride for next to nothing. So if you then add, say, four or five AMA riders looking for jobs in BSB, all it's going to do is bring the salaries down even further, because the riders, the teams will have a choice. So you'd basically be riding for nothing, if you wanted to ride.

Q It's funny. I think it's very easy for people to say, "Hey, I'm going to go look at options in Europe." But even maybe going back a couple years when maybe this series had a little bit greater level of respect from the rest of the world, it's not like tons of people were leaving from AMA Superbike and going and riding in MotoGP, or in BSB, for that matter. So at a time now when it's most challenged, it seemed like maybe wishful thinking on a few people's parts, that they might have a serious opportunity in those series.

A Exactly. And you know what happened as well? I remember back in 2000, which is not - we've had a couple of American riders come and race BSB, and one of them was Gobert. Now, I know Gobert's Australian, but in 2000 he came over, and having had a relatively successful AMA career, he was definitely on part of his downward spiral, but he did nothing in England. I remember he was being beaten by most privateers. The first race he turned up it was Mallory Park, and qualified 23rd. You know what I mean. And finished 17th. And then one of the English riders got injured and Tom Kipp - is it Tom Kipp? He replaced somebody and got lapped. And he come as an AMA rider. So again, in BSB, no one's looking at the AMA thinking, "Oh, wow, these riders are great, and we can't wait to get them riding for us." So yeah. It's one thing saying it, but in reality, there's actually not that many opportunities there.

Q You were the guy who was the outgoing champion when World Superbike had its last moment before going to the Pirelli rule. Most of the manufacturers fled that series at the end of that year. Some stayed involved covertly, like Honda Europe helping out Ten Kate, but really Ducati and Suzuki Alstare were the only serious teams left. Everybody else split. And it was a mess in 2004. It was interesting to see Frankie Chili lead the championship for a while, and Chris Walker podium. It took a couple of years, but World Superbike's gotten back up on its feet. Do you have any optimism that - it's tough, because right now, it seems like everything's in such complete shambles, it's tough to pick a couple of diamonds out of the coal pile. But do you have any optimism, based on what's happened with World Superbike, about what may happen here in a couple of years' time?

A Well, that's a good question. That's a very good question. Because that happened, and we've got that as the role model of "everybody said that it wasn't going to work, and it did." So there was a dip, and now it's probably gotten stronger than it was. But you've got to think: all that trouble was over tires. Just tires. Just a tire rule, in World Superbikes.

Q Well, it was also over the 1000 ccs, because remember, Alstare was running its experimental restrictor plated 1000 cc inline four, and then Flammini took those rules away, and so everybody was pissed at the lab bike thing and the tire rule. He just did what he wanted to do, and in a way, Roger's doing it how Flammini did, which is telling the manufacturers, "This is my series. This is what I'm going to do. And it is what it is."

A But in a lot bigger way.

Q Yeah. In a bigger way.

A And just coming in and doing it. That's the thing. Flammini, in the past, has always tried to work with the manufacturers. He really has, throughout the years. And then, he obviously had a goal, and he's achieved his goal with the tire changes and the slight rule changes. But essentially, still has respected the manufacturers, and realized that he needs their support in some way. Where it seems that's not the case with the DMG's approach to it. Hence, the manufacturers seem offended. Probably rightly so. And we're in this big standoff situation.

Q So personally, it must be a tough thing for you. I'm sure it's nice to know that you're going to get paid - I'm assuming you'll get paid whether or not you ever throw a leg over a bike next year. But is that going to be a tough thing for you? You've had one year off already. Is it the kind of thing where you would much rather - would you rather be racing, even in a diminished series, than just sitting home and taking a check? Where are you with it, mentally?

"...it's not what I want to do. I love living in America. I love racing in America. Honda have got a great motorcycle that we are improving, even though on the odd weekend it doesn't look like it. But with some slight rule changes, probably would have made us more competitive anyway. I want to get my teeth stuck to try to win this AMA championship for Honda. That's all I want to do. I don't want to have to be thinking about the prospect of going to World Superbikes."

A It's a really tricky one. It's horrible. Because I'm in a unique position, because I know what it's like not to race. Last year I didn't race, and I absolutely hated it. Up until that point, you think that you've maybe coming to the end of your career, and you've done this, and you've done that, and you actually don't realize how much racing means to you, the actual whole part of racing. It defines who you are as a person, as a racer. And for me, it's everything. It is my life. It's what I do. So the prospect of not racing just makes me feel ill. It really does. I can't do with that thought. Whatever happens next year, I want to make sure I'm racing. That's my priority. Even - I've got a two-year deal. The thought of sitting on a beach collecting a wage is not what I'm about at all. All I want to do is race motorcycles.

Q So if Honda said "we're going to sit this year out," they released you, you were free to do whatever you would do, all things being equal, if you had an opportunity to go back to World Superbike, stay here, or go to BSB, is there a place where you'd like to end up, ideally?

A Not where I'd like to end up ideally, but if - I'd probably go to World Superbikes, because it's a great championship.

Q You have a lot of fans, obviously.

A Yeah, exactly. And some great tracks. I'd do that.

Q And they're hurting for British riders in the premiere class these days.

A Definitely. So I think that's probably what I'd do, but it's not what I want to do. I love living in America. I love racing in America. Honda have got a great motorcycle that we are improving, even though on the odd weekend it doesn't look like it. But with some slight rule changes, probably would have made us more competitive anyway. I want to get my teeth stuck to try to win this AMA championship for Honda. That's all I want to do. I don't want to have to be thinking about the prospect of going to World Superbikes. But if you're given no choice, then that's what I'll have to do.

Q Is there anything else you want to say in terms of how you'd like to finish out the rest of this year? This is the twilight, the last few rounds.

A Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. I just -

Q What are you expecting out of the rest of this season, or what would you like to achieve out of the rest of this season?

A Basically just to work as hard as I can. I've been enjoying my racing this year, so just to keep my head down, work hard, try and improve the bike. It's a constant, trying to improve it, try and get rid of some chatter here, and find some grip there, and work on traction control. I still totally enjoy doing what we're doing. It's just sad when you put it like that, that it could possibly the last five races in America. It really could. So I'll have to make sure I make them count, then.