NEIL HODGSON celebrated a podium finish in the first race of the San Marino leg of the World Superbike Championships at Misano yesterday.

But the HM Plant Ducati/GSE Racing rider, who is from Burnley, couldn't repeat the achievement in the second race, where he finished fourth.

Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards finished first and second in both races.

In the first race Bayliss got the holeshot into turn one only to be passed by Edwards midway through the first lap, with Hodgson holding a watching brief in third.

The top three then pulled away from the rest of the field, with the only change in position recorded when Bayliss outbraked Edwards into Tramonto on lap ten.

The remainder of the race was processional with Bayliss, Edwards and Hodgson finishing in their overall championship running order.

"I was able to get off the line well and got towed along by the leading duo for the first seven or eight laps," said 28-year-old Hodgson after his fourth rostrum position of the season.

"After that I had a lonely but enjoyable ride and was even able to conserve my energy for the second leg over the last five laps.

"There was nothing that I could do about Troy or Colin. They've been fast all the way through testing and I knew that it would be difficult to beat them."

Hodgson's was a superb display of aggressive riding against title rivals Bayliss, Edwards and Noriyuki Haga in the second race, in which team-mate James Toseland retired on the fifth lap after a case of mistaken identity!

The 21-year-old Yorkshireman was awarded a stop-and-go penalty, but mistook his signal for a black flag and pulled off the track.

He was eighth on his HM Plant Ducati in the first race after a blistering battle with fellow British rider Chris Walker.

"I really enjoyed that race," said Hodgson after the second race's 25 gruelling laps. "I was determined to get off the line and prove that I could match the pace set by the front two Bayliss and Edwards. I'm at my best when the racing is as close as that at the front of the field, but I couldn't keep with them when they got by. Then, I ended up in a dogfight with Haga, which was better than riding around by myself as I had done in race one. Overall, I'm pleased with the progress that we've made this weekend and I've made up for the points that I lost at Lausitzring last time out."

Race one results: 1 T Bayliss (Ducati) 40:04.994, 2 C Edwards (Honda) +2.906, 3 N Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) +14.095, 4 N Haga (Aprilia) +19, 5 B Bostrom (Ducati) +33.644, 6 P Chili (Ducati) +42.275, 7 C Walker (Kawasaki) +47.899, 8 J Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) +49.885, 9 L Pedercini (Ducati) +53.545, 10 G Lavilla (Suzuki) +57.204, 11 M Borciani (Ducati) +1:03.071, 12 M Sanchini (Kawasaki) +1:10.073, 13 S Martin (Ducati) +1:15.226, 14 S. Foti (Ducati) +1:26.304, 15 P Goddard (Benelli) +1:33.220

Race two results: 1 T Bayliss (Ducati) 40:07.599, 2 C Edwards (Honda) +3.329, 3 N Haga (Aprilia) +8.447, 4 N Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) +14.089, 5 B Bostrom (Ducati) +21.484, 6 G Lavilla (Suzuki) +36.166, 7 P Chili (Ducati) +36.544, 8 C Walker (Kawasaki) +44.766, 9 L Pedercini (Ducati) +1:00.252, 10 M Borciani (Ducati) +1:06.518, 11 M Sanchini (Kawasaki) +1:14.551, 12 S Martin (Ducati) 1:16.338, 13 M Malatesta (Ducati) +1:25.295, 14 B Parkes (Ducati) +1:28.068, 15 B Stey (Honda) +1 lap J Toseland (HM Plant Ducati)

Riders' Championship Standings: 1 Bayliss 360pts, 2 Edwards 311, 3 Hodgson 194, 4 Haga 182, 5 Bostrom 165, 6 Xaus 152, 7 Toseland 107, 8 Walker 97, 9 Lavilla 84, 10 Chili 77