Corona Honda's Neil Hodgson struggled to get to grips with the Heartland Park circuit over the weekend as the predominantly left-turning track made it difficult for his still-injured shoulder.

Hodgson, who injured himself in a motocross crash at the season start, hasn't seen any significant progress with the shoulder as the calendar is now racing at two-week intervals and he isn't able to rest it sufficiently.

"I knew straight away that it was going to be hard, because the change of direction was bad here. There was lots of change of direction and all lefts and I found it very, very difficult," said the former World Superbike Champion.

"Actually, the second race was a lot better. We made the bike better, easier to turn in and we chose the right tyre. The soft was so much better than the hard we'd used on Saturday. We'd used the soft on the Thursday two  different times and it tore badly, really badly.

"Because the track's obviously not a new track, and it wasn't freezing cold, and you just think, 'That's not even going to be a player.' So we never even really looked at it again, because we knew it was going to fall off.

"Sunday was enjoyable. I'd never raced with Michael Laverty before, because he's younger than me. I was off doing World Championship racing when he was coming through the ranks. He's a very safe rider.

"You can tell he's got a quite economic riding style, so no problems at all. Our machines were well matched, though I think mine had a little bit more horsepower than his and I just wasn't as strong as him to change direction and then I'd work to get it back. I finally got him just into the chicane. I got the drive out of the corner before and then almost leveled him, which made it easier for the pass."