SUPERBIKE ace Neil Hodgson revealed his anguish following the death of World Supersport championship rider Michael Paquay at Monza.

Paguay was involved in an accident with three other riders on the start and finish straight but despite the efforts of track side medical staff he later died at Monza hospital.

Hodgson, who competed on the same circuit just hours later in the World Superbike Championship qualifying, described the Castrol Honda racer's death as an 'absolute tragedy'.

"I raced against Michael Paquay back in 1996. He was a very modest guy and a very talented racer," said Hodgson.

"It is very difficult psychologically to deal with because it obviously affects you.

"But we all realise the dangers that are out there.

"In practice I was clocked at 313 kmph and at those speeds you don't get a second chance.

"On the faster circuits you will always find groups of riders bunched up together because of the slipstream.

"And that intensifies the chances of an accident.

"But it is always very sad when something like this happens."

The tragedy took the gloss off an otherwise successful weekend for the Burnley-based rider.

He finished an impressive fourth in Sunday's opening race and battled back from a disastrous start in race two to come in seventh.

"I am really pleased with how things went - the bike, my performance, the team and everything.

"Hopefully it could be the turning point of my season.

"I am a lot more confident on the bike now.

"We are racing on completely different tyres this year and it takes a lot of miles before you can predict how they are going to perform."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.