Neil Hodgson made his GP debut in 1992 as a 125cc wildcard. He spent 1993 campaigning 125s then spent the next two years hovering around the 500cc World Championship, impressing with some privateer machinery before signing for Ducati to ride as part of their factory World Superbike effort. The 30 year old's career then ebbed and flowed until winning the British Superbike crown in 2000 swiftly followed by the World Superbike title in 2003 as part of the Ducati Corse works set-up. His one full season in MotoGP with the D'Antin Ducati team in 2004 saw him finish the Championship 17th.