October 3, 2006
Ohio - Ducati's Neil Hodgson finished off the 2006 season with a podium result at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and teammate Ben Bostrom was fourth to end the AMA Superbike season for Parts Unlimited Ducati. Hodgson ran strong in both ends of the red-flagged race, leading the event on lap 15. The Englishman challenged hard on the Ducati 999 and in the middle portions of the race was especially strong in the "Thunder Valley" section.
"Today's race was a good opportunity for us. We pushed hard and battled," said Hodgson. "We had a solid race and it was fun racing at the front. I enjoyed the competition and it would have been nice to get a win, but a third is a good result. It's hard to believe the season's over. From Laguna onward, we improved. We were more competitive every weekend."
Ben Bostrom took fourth place, making a remarkable leap up the leader board on the second start. Bostrom rocketed into third with an excellent launch from the second row and raced with the leaders before finishing fourth in the 26-lap race.
"The bike was really good, and I thought it was good enough to have raced for the lead the whole time. On the second start, we improved our position because the Ducati 999 is a good starter," said Bostrom. "We ended up fourth on the day, and we wanted more for the last race of the year but this was a solid race for us."
