Corona Honda's Neil Hodgson got a hard-fought second place in last night's American Superbike opener at Daytona, beating third-placed man Tommy Hayden by just 0.001 of a second.

Even though Hodgson has stood on the podium plenty of times, it was the former World Superbike Champion's highest finish since paddling round at Road America a couple of years ago.

Hodgson took the lead on lap six from Larry Pegram (Ducati), to front a quartet of riders. Hodgson then led for two laps before being passed in turn one of the eighth lap by both eventual winner Mat Mladin and Pegram, and dropping to third.

On the tenth lap Hodgson was back into second, but now under pressure from Mladin's teammate Tommy Hayden, who made a pass on the 14th of 15 laps. But on the final lap Hayden was balked in the chicane and Hodgson closed up for the all-important run from the chicane to the chequered flag, one of the longest full-throttle runs on the AMA calendar.

The pair hit the stripe side by side, but it was Hodgson taking second by the slimmest of margins, officially .001 seconds. "I was definitely pleased with that. It's nice to be battling for a win. I've not had that opportunity for the last few years," said Hodgson.

"Everybody has put a lot of effort in behind the scenes. It has been 12-hour days for
everybody. So, it's nice for me to do my job. Obviously, I want to win. After a race like that, I can sit down with my crew chief and see where we need to improve the bikes. There's certainly some areas that I need to improve the bike, but in general I'm pretty happy with that.

"When I was in the lead I thought I could win the race. I knew Mat was probably not in 100% condition and, it's such a funny place, Daytona. Your tyre can just start going down and there's nothing you can do about it once it starts spinning.

"I could see Larry's tyre go off pretty much. It just went worse and worse and that was him out of the race. And I thought that could happen to Mat. And when I got the lead, I'm thinking, 'I'll just go as fast as I can'."

• Celtic Racing's Michael Laverty netted an incredible ninth place on his AMA Superbike and Daytona debut.

Daytona American Superbike race results - conditions dry

1 7 Mathew Mladin Henderson, NV Suzuki GSX-R1000 15 Laps Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki
2 100 Neil Hodgson Irvine, CA Honda CBR1000RR +1.026 Corona Extra Honda
3 22 Tommy Hayden Owensboro, KY Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.026 Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki
4 72 Larry Pegram Hebron, OH Ducati 1098R +10.115 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati
5 79 Blake Young Madison, WI Suzuki GSX-R1000 +16.007 Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki
6 2 Benjamin Bostrom Malibu, CA Yamaha YZF-R1 +16.212 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA
7 23 Aaron Yates Milledgeville, GA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +16.362 Jordan Suzuki
8 4 Joshua Hayes Gulfport, MS Yamaha YZF-R1 +28.356 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA
9 8 Michael Laverty Nyack, NY Suzuki GSX-R1000 +28.432 Celtic Racing
10 54 Geoff May Gainesville, GA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +31.582 National Guard Jordan Suzuki
11 19 Jeff Wood Winchendon, MA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +47.200 Bettencourts Racing
12 96 Aaron Gobert Murrieta, CA Honda CBR1000RR +57.269 AGR Inc.
13 121 Hawk Mazzotta Carmel Valley, CA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +58.856 Aussie Dave Racing
14 18 Chris Ulrich Lake Elsinore, CA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +58.949 Roadracingworld.com/Suzuki
15 91 Jeffrey Tigert Torrance, CA Honda CBR1000RR +58.968 TigerTeam Racing
16 61 Scott Jensen Loveland, CO Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:07.584 Moto Garage Racing
17 29 Barrett Long Miami, FL Ducati 1098R +1:07.620 Longevity Racing
18 41 Scott Greenwood Dunbarton, NH Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:07.941 Greenwood Racing
19 12 Shane Narbonne Tyngsboro, MA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:08.045 Team Hooters Suzuki
20 27 Mark Crozier Fort Valley, GA Yamaha YZF-R1 +1:11.554 Four Feathers Racing
21 6 Brett McCormick Saskatoon, SK, Canada Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:17.905 Suzuki/Blackfoot/Picotte Motorsports
22 616 Brad Hendry Thornton, CO Ducati 1098R +1:19.438 Nor CO Racing
23 38 Dean Mizdal Glendora, CA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:33.792 M Racing
24 48 Reno Karimian Glendale, CA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:33.942 Team Reno
25 11 Shawn Higbee Mukwonago, WI Buell 1125CR 14 Laps Higbee-Racing.com
26 269 Johnny Rock Page Phoenix, AZ Yamaha YZF-R1 +17.135 944 Magazine/Energized by Verve!/JohnnyRockPage.com
27 58 Josh Graham Steamboat Springs, CO Yamaha YZF-R1 +27.725 Moto Garage Racing
28 55 David Loikits Northampton, PA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +41.848 Loikits Industries Racing
29 270 Davie Stone Cave Creek, AZ Honda CBR1000RR 13 Laps AllStoneArmy.com
30 25 David Anthony Murrieta, CA Suzuki GSX-R1000 8 Laps Aussie Dave Racing
31 44 Taylor Knapp Lapeer, MI Suzuki GSX-R1000 4 Laps Taylor Knapp Racing
32 59 Jake Holden Puyallup, WA Honda CBR1000RR 3 Laps Holden Racing
33 21 Ryan Elleby Powder Springs, GA Suzuki GSX-R1000 2 Laps Team Hooters Suzuki