BURNLEY'S Neil Hodgson once more confirmed his status as a World Superbike championship contender by taking an outstanding second and fourth places after thrilling races at the Monza Autodrome.

After starting from pole position in the opener, Hodgson remained at the head of the field for the majority of the 18-lap race.

The 28-year-old former-British Superbike Champion put in an incredibly strong showing, and dominated the frantic three-way battle for the lead that was to rage throughout the 104km contest.

Troy Bayliss eventually emerged victorious from the struggle, despite both he and third-placed Colin Edwards cutting out the Prima chicane.

The pair of world champions outbraked themselves at the end of the 190mph start/finish straight and were forced to straight-line the section and make use of the run-off road.

"I really thought I'd won the race," said Hodgson. "A memo had gone around before the race saying that a ten-second stop-and-go penalty would be imposed if you cut out the chicane.

"On the last lap, I didn't really try to get by Troy because, as far as I was concerned, I only had to worry about Chili getting past me.

"It turns out that the penalty wasn't imposed. I'm disappointed, but I can't take anything away from everybody else because they rode really well to catch me back up."

"I'm not at any real power disadvantage anymore and I have these fantastic Dunlop race tyres."

Race two saw the HM Plant Ducati/GSE Racing rider miss out on a podium position by the narrowest of margins.

After an epic race-long display of tactics, skill and courage, the #100 HM Plant Ducati crossed the line less than 0.07s from second-placed Colin Edwards and just 0.024s behind third-placed Noriyuki Haga.

Hodgson's team-mate James Toseland was unable to complete the 18-lap race after he fell victim to spilled fluid on the track and slid off his bike while on target for another fifth-placed finish.

Hodgson had fronted the contest in places, but it was Bayliss who eventually eked out a lead that he was to maintain to the chequered flag.

Behind him the race became a furious battle for the subsequent three positions and Hodgson rode remarkably throughout.

After countless laps of astonishing overtaking and spectacular slipstreaming action, the final placings were decided on the very last corner.

"Something split in my exhaust system during the race and I lost a load of power," explained Hodgson.

"Nobody's to blame for that happening - it's just one of those things."- but I suddenly found myself right down on acceleration.

"I was drafting past the other two pretty easily but I just couldn't get the drive back out of the chicanes and that was what I needed right at the end.

"Although I've reinforced my third place in the championship standings, I'm more than a little disappointed in the way things turned out, mainly because I'm riding really well and potentially could have won both races."

World Superbike Championship rd 5, Monza, Italy

Race 1 (18 laps): 1 Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 32min 34.429secs, 2 Neil Hodgson (Gbr) Ducati at 0.259secs, 3 Colin Edwards (USA) Honda at 0.576, 4 Pierfrancesco Chili (Ita) Ducati at 6.422, 5 James Toseland (Gbr) Ducati at 18.860, 6 Ruben Xaus (Spa) Ducati at 27.528, 7 Gregorio Lavilla (Spa) Suzuki at 38.264, 8 Alessandro Antonello (Ita) Ducati at 38.642, 9 Eric Bostrom (USA) Kawasaki at 38.745, 10 Steve Martin (Aus) Ducati at 56.182

Selected others: 15 Mark Heckles (Gbr) Honda at 1:38.899

Retired: Chris Walker (Gbr) Kawasaki at 3 laps

Race 2 (18 laps): 1 Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 32:51.693, 2 Colin Edwards (USA) Honda at 2.226, 3 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Aprilia at 2.267, 4 Neil Hodgson (Gbr) Ducati at 2.291, 5 Gregorio Lavilla (Spa) Suzuki at 21.844, 6 Lucio Pedercini (Ita) Ducati at 21.958, 7 Eric Bostrom (USA) Kawasaki at 22.333, 8 Broc Parkes (Aus) Ducati at 34.485, 9 Ben Bostrom (USA) Ducati at 34.542, 10 Chris Walker (Gbr) at 34.622

Selected others: 18 Mark Heckles (Gbr) Honda at 1 lap

Retired: James Toseland (Gbr) Ducati at 13 laps

World Championship: 1 Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 224pts, 2 Colin Edwards (USA) Honda 186, 3 Neil Hodgson (Gbr) Ducati 131, 4 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Aprilia 103, 5 Ben Bostrom (USA) Ducati 102, 6 Ruben Xaus (Spa) Ducati 96, 7 James Toseland (Gbr) Ducati 68, 8 Gregorio Lavilla (Spa) Suzuki 58, 9 Chris Walker (Gbr) Kawasaki 58, 10 Hitoyasu Izutsu (Jpn) Kawasaki 47

Manufacturers Championship: 1 Ducati 229, 2 Honda 191, 3 Aprilia 103, 4 Kawasaki 90, 5 Suzuki 58