Carlos Checa

Carlos Checa
Checa during the Silverstone round of the 2012 Superbike World Championship season.
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1972-10-15) 15 October 1972 Barcelona, Spain
Website	carloscheca.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 1995–2007, 2010 Manufacturers Honda, Ducati, Yamaha 2010 championship position 21st (1 pt) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 194 2 24 3 5 1485 250cc World Championship Active years 1993–1995 Manufacturers Honda 1995 championship position 13th (45 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 27 0 0 0 0 108 125cc World Championship Active years 1993 Manufacturers Honda 1993 championship position 27th (9 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 1 0 0 0 0 9 Superbike World Championship Active years 2008–2013 Manufacturers Honda, Ducati Championships 1 (2011) 2013 championship position 15th (80 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 150 24 49 10 30 1691.5

Carlos "Charlie" Checa (born 15 October 1972 in Barcelona, Spain) is a former professional motorcycle road racer and winner of the 2011 Superbike World Championship. After racing in 500cc and MotoGP for over a decade, mostly on Honda and Yamaha machinery with and without full manufacturer support, he moved to the Superbike World Championship on a Honda for 2008. He has two Grand Prix victories.^[1] He has a younger brother, David Checa, also a motorcycle racer who competed in the Superbike World Championship for 2008.

Grand Prix

Checa made his debut in 125cc and 250cc motorcycle racing in 1993 for Honda. In 1995, he moved up to the Blue Riband 500cc class as a replacement for Alberto Puig, a fellow Spaniard who broke both his legs in a horrifying crash in France. Checa shocked the paddock by being on the pace and nearly winning the Barcelona race.

He continued with the team until 1998, the year he suffered near fatal injuries with a crash at Donington Park. He crashed at Craner Curves and was initially thought to have suffered only scrapes and bruises before complaining of pain. Hours later he had lost his vision,^[2] needed emergency surgery to remove his spleen and was listed in critical condition. He fought back to ride that year, missing just one race, before racing for Yamaha as Max Biaggi's team mate on two and four-strokes. He nearly won many races but unfortunately crashed after taking the lead. One such race was at Rio de Janeiro in 2002 when he stalled on the starting line then, came through to lead before crashing a corner later.

Checa continued racing with the factory Yamaha team for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, before he moved to Ducati in 2005. In 2006 he returned to the Tech 3 Yamaha team, proving much steadier than in previous years and comfortably beating team-mate James Ellison but was not much a threat to the rest of the field, as they were on Dunlop tyres. He struggled as the sole LCR Honda rider in 2007, with the 800cc Honda proving uncompetitive for many riders. At the Sachsenring Checa got an updated frame, which other non-works Honda riders had found uncompetitive – this is believed to be due to Checa using the same Michelin tyres as the works team, the other Hondas being on Bridgestones.

Checa returned to the series in 2010, as replacement for Mika Kallio for the last two races of the season.^[3]

Superbike World Championship

For the 2008 season, Checa left MotoGP to join the Ten Kate Honda team in the Superbike World Championship as a replacement for 2007 champion James Toseland.^[4] At Valencia he challenged Max Neukirchner for the win at the final corner, resulting in a collision which broke Neukirchner's collarbone. Checa's first two wins – following four podium finishes – both came in the meeting at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City on 1 June 2008. He did not reach the podium again, but consistent results elsewhere allowed him to finish fifth in the championship. He also won the Suzuka 8 Hours with team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari.^[5]

In 2009, Checa struggled to compete for much of the season, securing just four podium finishes and finishing seventh in the riders' standings, 32 points behind satellite Honda rider Leon Haslam. During the 2009 season, Ten Kate Honda announced that they would be downsizing their operation from three riders to just two.^[6] Both Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari were released, with Jonathan Rea retained^[7] and Max Neukirchner joining the team from Suzuki.^[8]

In November 2009, Checa was confirmed as a rider at the Althea Ducati team, where he would race alongside Shane Byrne.^[9] He scored Althea's first win at the season opening meeting at Phillip Island, and was on course for victories in both races at Miller Motorsports Park in the United States before suffering mystery mechanical failures in both races.^[10] Checa went on to win the Italian round at Imola and finished the season in third place in the 2010 championship.^[11]

Checa dominated the opening round of the 2011 season, winning both races comfortably at Phillip Island on his Ducati 1098R.^[12] He won thirteen more times and was crowned the 2011 World Superbike Champion at the penultimate round at the Magny-Cours circuit in France, becoming the first Spaniard & only the 3rd European rider from outside of the United Kingdom after Raymond Roche & Max Biaggi to have done so.^[11]

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Superbike World Championship

By season

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

• carloscheca.com Official website
• Media related to Carlos Checa at Wikimedia Commons