NEIL Hodgson finished fourth in the second race of round two of this year's Superbike World Championship in South Africa.

The reigning British Superbike champion, who qualified fifth for the two 25-lap races, did not finish the first race at the Kyalami circuit because of an oil leak, but made a strong comeback in the second to power his GSE Ducati over the finish line in fourth position.

"I'm really pleased with my result," said 27-year-old Hodgson, who is from Burnley.

"It was disappointing to have a problem in the first race, but to come away with a fourth place is just an amazing feeling."

"I'm looking forward to having some time off before the next round," said Hodgson, who resides in the Isle of Man.

"Kathryn (Neil's fiance) and I are having a holiday in Australia, which will give me a chance to get adjusted to the conditions and time zone and to be fully refreshed for the next race."

James Toseland, Hodgson's 20-year-old team-mate who finished 14th in the first race, fought his way through the field from 13th to ninth position in the second race, but was disappointed not to finish.

"I've really enjoyed racing here this weekend," said the British rider. "I would have liked to finish the second race with a top 10 finish, but I'm still learning to ride the GSE Ducati. I've never raced here before, so I'm happy to achieved what I did."

GSE Racing's Team Manager Colin Wright was pleased with the end result of the GSE Racing team: "James did really well to progress from 13th to ninth position in the second race. He looked really strong in ninth position and I think it was an excellent learning experience for him.

"Neil had a great result in the second race. I'm really happy for the team, sponsors and of course Neil."

Ducati rider Ben Bostrom won the second race, Troy Bayliss came second and fellow Australian Troy Corser was third.

Current World Champion Colin Edwards retired from the second race because of technical difficulty.

The next round of the 2001 Superbike World Championship is in three weeks' time on April 20-22, at Phillip Island in Australia.

And there were mixed results in race one of round two of the 2001 Superbike World Championship at Kyalami circuit in South Africa.

Current British Superbike Champion Hodgson, retired on lap 11 because of an oil leak, while team mate Toseland underwent a stop-go penalty for a jump start, but made a sensational comeback to finish 14th and secured valuable championship points.

"The team has worked hard all weekend and it was disappointing for Neil to pull out halfway through the first race," said Team Principal Darrell Healey. "We are currently investigating the cause and the team will ensure Neil will be back on track for the second race this afternoon."

Twenty-year-old Toseland held twelfth position until lap five, when he was directed into the pits for a stop-go penalty: "When I rejoined the race I saw on the pit board that I was in 17th position and I knew that I would be able to catch the guys in front of me," said the young Sheffield rider.

"The team has not had the opportunity to watch the video footage of James' alleged jump start," said Healey.

"Despite the penalty, James did really well. In fact we calculated that without it, he would have finished tenth, or quite possibly ninth."

Current Superbike World Champion Colin Edwards won today's first race, followed by former GSE Racing rider Troy Bayliss, then Troy Corser.

Team mate James Toseland climbed to ninth position, before retiring because of a technical difficulty.

First race result: 1 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 43m 17.222s, 2 Troy

Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 43m 19.070s, 3 Troy Corser, Australia (Aprilia)

43m 21.378s, 4 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 43m 26.990s, 5 Akira Yanagawa,

Japan (Kawasaki) 43m 30.728s, 6 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 43m

49.921s, 7 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 43m 52.474s, 8 Regis Laconi,

France (Aprilia) 43m 52.735s, 9 Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 43m 29.178s, 10

Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 44m 06.943s.

Second: 1 Bostrom 43m 13.513s, 2 Bayliss 43m 17.818s, 3 Corser 43m 26.064s,

4 Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 43m 30.853s, 5 Xaus 43m 31.747s, 6 Laconi 43m

32.345s, 7 Lavilla 43m 45.626s, 8 Chili 43m 52.341s, 9 Giovanni Bussei,

Italy (Ducati) 43m 57.195s, 10 Chambon 44m 02.389s.

World Superbike championship points after two of 13 rounds: 1 Corser 82, 2

Bayliss 80, 3 Bostrom 54, 4 Edwards 48, 5 Lavilla 45, 6 Chili 36, 7 Laconi

31, 8 Yanagawa 29, 9 Xaus 26, 10 Hodgson and Chambon 24.

Manufacturers points: 1 Ducati 85, 2 Aprilia 82, 3 Honda 49, 4 Kawasaki 47,

5 Suzuki 36, 6 Yamaha 4.

Next round: April 22 - Phillip Island, Australia