CARL Fogarty could fall further behind bitter rival John Kocinski in the World Superbikes championship race even before Sunday's eighth round in Zeltweg, Austria.

Niall Mackenzie's Yamaha failed a fuel test following his third place in round seven at Brands Hatch.

The British rider could now be stripped of his 16 points and Kocinski upgraded to third - adding three more points to the American's overall total.

"I'm not concerned about what's going on with that," insisted Fogarty, 31, twice world superbikes champion.

"One thing I will say, they'll be the easiest points Kocinski has ever picked up because I mean to make him fight for points every step of the way from here on in."

The Blackburn ace currently lies four points behind Kocinski and they are again likely to be the two major players this weekend. In early season tests at the redesigned A-1 Ring circuit, formerly known as the Oesterreichring, Kocinski was fastest of the riders, but just one tenth of a second faster than Fogarty.

"The bike performed well on this track earlier in the year," said Fogarty about his Ducati.

"It's a new circuit to everyone apart from that testing we had in June so it's an even playing field."

Fogarty's Ducati team-mate, Neil Hodgson from Burnley, moved up two places following fifth and sixth-place finishes in the previous round at Brands.

But he knows he needs podium finishes over the closing rounds if he is to progress further up the table. "I've been performing better in the races than some of my results might suggest," said Hodgson. "With a strong finish I could still end up in a top five position."

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