NEIL Hodgson returned home to the Isle of Man yesterday after a frustrating weekend at Silverstone vowing to get things right at the next round of the World Superbike Championships.

He is planning to have a good break and get in some rest after the hectic schedule surrounding his home event.

Mistakes over tyre selection in both races on Sunday meant the Burnley biker had to settle for third place in race one and sixth in the next race.

As he reflected on a frustrating weekend he admitted: "I was not happy but I have had worse.

"In terms of the championship the first two are getting away a bit but at least I am still third and I picked up a point more than Noriyuki Haga who is behind me in fourth.

"The conditions were really horrible but the main thing was I got a couple of finishes and did not suffer any injuries. The problem was it all came down to the choice of tyres and I got it wrong for both races.

"Actually, it was not different tyres I needed, at times it felt like I needed a power boat."

It was Haga who went past Hodgson in the first race to send him down to third place and the 28-year-old admitted: "I did try and push it for a couple of laps but I was having a few dodgy moments and he wasn't.

"I could not understand but I decided that at least I had a safe 16 points so I sat back. It turned out Haga had a tyre that was designed for lying water and that was what we both went for in the second race. The problem was it didn't rain so I was driving at 100 per cent and only finished sixth, but four places in front of Haga."

Having come through the weekend unscathed, despite the conditions, Hodgson yesterday revealed that he had been competing with an ankle injury.

"I sprained my ankle playing tennis in Burnley the week before the race. I was lucky that it did not actually affect my riding but it is the last time I get involved in a dangerous sport like tennis," joked the man who on Sunday could be seen hurtling around a track that was doing a good impression of a lake at break-neck speed.

"I am going home to rest up for the next ten days and then we go to Germany for the next round of the championship," he said.

"I am looking forward to it as I finished eighth and second last season and I do quite like the track."

After the trials and tribulations all the riders suffered throughout a typically wet summer weekend in Northamptonshire, Hodgson is just hoping for some better weather and the chance to put a bit of pressure on championship leaders Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards.

And the tennis racquet will be left safely in its cover as he prepares for the race.