I'm just curious.
What happens if you loose to him twice?

Then you need to re-do the mission.

It's easy to defeat Hovis (I watched my wife do it).

After she enters the Dublin system, she switches to cockpit mode and makes a beeline to the Hood. She saves her game the minute she's in the Hood's docking bay. She goes through the storyline, takes on Hovis and moves to the starting gate (still in cockpit view). On go, she hits the afterburners, goes into cruise mode and gets a good 300 meter head start. I swear, the way she holds the course is the same way she holds the Interstate in her SUV. She never misses a gate, doesn't bump Hovis and wins every time on the first try.

And she used a Clydesdale!

The trick is to allready be aiming at the next gate as you go through one. Cut close, you may take 3 tries.

The first time I lost to Hovis, I was just learning how to play Freelancer.
The second time I lost to Hovis, is when I was using Porsche's Star Wars Ship Pack(System Cruise Speed was way too high at 1200 and you can't make the gates at that speed) .

Ever since, I've beaten Hovis. Just immediately get into cruise and keep
your turns close to the "inside" in relation to the next gate.
Trust me, Hovis screws up because he isn't that good.

Hovis' character is all mouth and no substance. If you can't beat him, uninstall the game. And I agree about the Star Wars ship pack. I tried the course with the Millenium Falcon and almost lost.

You can beat Hovis in a Freighter if you want to. I have never had any trouble with his race.

If you can't beat the storyline go play something easy Go play Freelancer online that is where most people go when they cannot beat the storyline.

“SISU”
(Pronounced: siss-sue)
(Meaning)
Guts, Tenacity, Steadfastness, Courage, and an Indomitable will to Succeed, and Survive.