BURNLEY'S Neil Hodgson blamed his tyres after falling further behind leader Troy Bayliss in the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island in Australia yesterday.

The HM Plant Ducati rider finished fifth and fourth in yesterday's two races as champion Bayliss completed an unprecedented four-in-a-row triumph.

The Australian Ducati Infostrada star took victories from Castrol Honda's Colin Edwards in both races to become the first rider in history to claim a perfect 100 points from the first four races of the season.

But Hodgson was left frustrated after his Dunlop tyres failed to cope with the Australian heat as well as the rival Michelin rubber.

Hodgson said: "It was apparent at practice that it was a split between Michelin and Dunlop, we knew the Michelins had a slight advantage.

"It was two separate races and I wanted to win my race, which was the Dunlop race."

In race one Hodgson was pipped to that achievement by L&M Ducati rival Ben Bostrom, who stole fourth on the final lap - although the Lancastrian got his revenge by holding off the American for fourth in race two.

Hodgson said: "I was so up in control but I had a big slide at turn two on the last lap, Bostrom came underneath me.

"I still thought pretty confident that I would pass him back on the last lap and I didn't get the last couple of corners right like I thought I would and I couldn't do anything about it so I was really annoyed.

"The plan was for race two to make amends for that and win the Dunlop race, which I did.

"It was a good battle and the best race of the year - obviously for me the best result."

After another crushing display, Bayliss insisted the title race was still wide open heading into the third round of the season at Kyalami in South Africa - a circuit on which he has never won.

The 32-year-old said: "It really has been a perfect weekend in front of my home crowd, I just missed out on pole and it would have been a clean sweep.

"I don't know about it being easy though because when I was behind Colin in both races I was getting the hot air from his exhausts and I really had to dig deep in the last few laps.

"On my second last lap of race two I was expecting something big from Colin but then I saw my pit-board with a good gap so I cruised to the win.

"All in all it's an exceptional start to the season for me, but there's still a long way to go and anything can happen."

Edwards revealed he had not pushed as hard as possible to catch Bayliss after a slight mechanical worry in race two.

The American said: "Troy rode really well - I'm sick of finishing second already but hats off to him.

"I felt a little vibration with four laps to go in the second race so I thought 20 points was better than none and decided to play it safe."

Bayliss' Spanish team-mate Ruben Xaus was delighted with his brace of third places after the disappointment of crashing out in front of his home fans in Valencia last time out.

He said: "Both races were not easy but as soon as I passed the guys in front of me they were OK.

"It's perfect for me to be on the podium twice this weekend, because it means I'm learning and getting better all the time.

"I didn't get a good start in either race and I think I probably destroyed the tyres by trying to catch them and with my riding style.

"But I'm happy because if we continue like this we can be fighting for a top-three position by the end of the year."