Neil calls it a day
When RBP was formed 17 years ago, our two main clients were Kawasaki Motors UK and Neil Hodgson, a young motorcycle racer who had just won the British 125cc Championship. Team Burnett was formed and Roger, Gemma and I provided the managerial, sponsorship, PR and admin support for Neil on an ongoing basis. We firmly believed that one day he would be a world champion. In 1995, Roger negotiated for him to move into the 500cc World Championship and our successful association with Neil went from strength to strength over the next 12 seasons.
There were many highs and lows along the way, including the elation of winning the 2000 British Superbike Championship title, but eventually our "dream" came true... Neil won the World Superbike Championship on 7 September 2003. It was a triumph, not only for Neil, but everyone at RBP and Roger in particular. As it says on the signed event poster hanging in the office from that memorable day seven years ago, "We did it mate!"
Neil is a top bloke as well as one of the most talented racers ever to represent his country at international level. We are proud of our association with him, and although he hasn't ridden under the RBP banner since 2006, we are all extremely disappointed that he has been forced to retire through injury. We wish him well in whatever he decides to do next and hope that he continues to be as successful off the track as he was on it.
Please see http://www.britishsuperbike.com/news/hodgson-announces-retirement.aspx for more information.
Posted by Paul Directors on 22 Apr 2010 at 13:00