Carlos Checa

Carlos Checa Carrera (born 15 October 1972) is a Spanish former professional motorcycle road racer and winner of the 2011 Superbike World Championship. After racing in 500 cc and MotoGP for over a decade, mostly on Honda and Yamaha machinery and claiming two Grand Prix victories despite not having full manufacturer support, he moved to the Superbike World Championship on a Honda for where he went on to claim 24 victories and one championship. He has a younger brother, David Checa, also a motorcycle racer who competed in the Superbike World Championship for .

Career 125cc, 250cc, 500cc & MotoGP World Championship Born in Barcelona, Spain, Checa made his debut in 125cc and 250cc motorcycle racing in for Honda. In , 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.

Checa continued with the team until 1998, the year he suffered near fatal injuries with a crash at Donington Park's Craner Curves and was initially thought to have suffered only scrapes and bruises before complaining of pain. Hours later he had lost his vision, 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 teammate on two-strokes and four-strokes. He nearly won many races but had a habit of crashing after taking the lead. One such race was at Rio de Janeiro in 2002 when he stalled on the starting line, then rode through the field to take the lead only to crash a corner later.

Checa continued racing with the factory Yamaha team for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, before he moved to Marlboro Ducati in . In 2006 he returned to the Tech 3 Yamaha team, proving much steadier than in previous years and comfortably beating teammate 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 , as replacement for Mika Kallio for the last two races of the season.

Superbike World Championship For the season, Checa left MotoGP to join the Ten Kate Honda team in the Superbike World Championship as a replacement for champion James Toseland. 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 teammate Ryuichi Kiyonari.

In , 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. Both Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari were released, with Jonathan Rea retained and Max Neukirchner joining the team from Suzuki.

In November 2009, Checa was confirmed as a rider at the Althea Ducati team, where he would race alongside Shane Byrne. 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. Checa went on to win the Italian round at Imola and finished the season in third place in the championship.

Checa dominated the opening round of the season, winning both races comfortably at Phillip Island on his Ducati 1098R. 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 and only the third European rider from outside of the United Kingdom after Raymond Roche and Max Biaggi to have done so.

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) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts 1993 125cc Honda AUS MAL JPN SPA AUT GER NED EUR7 27th 9 250cc Honda RSM21 GBR25 CZERet ITA20 USA14 FIM9 23rd 9 1994 250cc Honda AUS14 MAL11 JPNRet SPA11 AUTRet GER14 NED11 ITA10 FRA13 GBR12 CZERet USA7 ARG10 EUR10 12th 54 1995 250cc Honda AUS4 MALDNS JPNRet SPARet GER7 ITA11 NED11 FRA4 13th 45 500cc Honda GBRRet CZE8 BRA7 ARG7 EURRet 16th 26 1996 500cc Honda MAL3 INA5 JPN10 SPA10 ITADNS FRARet NED11 GERRet GBR12 AUT7 CZE8 IMO11 CAT1 BRA4 AUS3 8th 124 1997 500cc Honda MAL6 JPN6 SPARet ITARet AUT6 FRA2 NED2 IMO4 GERRet BRARet GBRRet CZERet CAT2 INA6 AUS10 8th 119 1998 500cc Honda JPN8 MAL2 SPA4 ITA4 FRA3 MAD1 NED5 GBRDNS GER CZE7 IMO10 CAT6 AUSDNS ARG8 4th 139 1999 500cc Yamaha MAL2 JPN6 SPA10 FRA5 ITA7 CAT7 NEDRet GBRRet GER4 CZERet IMORet VAL5 AUS4 RSA6 BRARet ARG4 7th 125 2000 500cc Yamaha RSA2 MAL2 JPN5 SPA2 FRA7 ITA2 CATRet NED5 GBR11 GER9 CZE11 POR12 VAL7 BRA15 PAC4 AUSRet 6th 155 2001 500cc Yamaha JPN10 RSA SPA14 FRA2 ITARet CAT8 NEDRet GBR5 GER2 CZE7 POR4 VAL4 PAC7 AUS16 MAL10 BRA2 6th 137 2002 MotoGP Yamaha JPN3 RSA5 SPARet FRARet ITA4 CAT3 NED3 GBRRet GER4 CZE5 POR2 BRARet PAC5 MAL7 AUS11 VALRet 5th 141 2003 MotoGP Yamaha JPN10 RSA9 SPARet FRARet ITA8 CAT4 NED4 GBR6 GER8 CZE4 POR8 BRA9 PACRet MAL5 AUS8 VAL5 7th 123 2004 MotoGP Yamaha RSA10 SPA6 FRA2 ITARet CAT4 NED9 BRA10 GERRet GBR6 CZE6 POR5 JPN7 QATRet MAL9 AUS10 VAL14 7th 117 2005 MotoGP Ducati SPA10 POR5 CHNRet FRARet ITA5 CAT11 NED9 USARet GBR5 GERRet CZE8 JPN4 MAL3 QAT6 AUS3 TUR5 VAL4 9th 138 2006 MotoGP Yamaha SPA13 QAT12 TUR15 CHN14 FRA11 ITA15 CAT8 NED9 GBR10 GER9 USA7 CZE15 MAL12 AUSRet JPN14 POR7 VAL10 15th 75 2007 MotoGP Honda QATRet SPA6 TUR12 CHN10 FRARet ITARet CAT17 GBRRet NED11 GER14 USA14 CZE10 RSM6 POR7 JPN18 AUS11 MAL14 VAL12 14th 65 MotoGP Ducati QAT SPA FRA ITA GBR NED CAT GER USA CZE IND SMR ARA JPN MAL AUS PORRet VAL15 21st 1

Superbike World Championship

By season

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2008 Honda QAT6 QAT11 AUS6 AUS2 SPA5 SPA3 NED2 NED3 ITA8 ITARet USA1 USA1 GER5 GER5 SMR5 SMR8 CZE8 CZERet GBR6 GBR8 EURRet EUR9 ITA5 ITA5 FRA7 FRA4 POR2 POR7 4th 313 2009 Honda AUS12 AUS13 QAT5 QAT13 SPARet SPA6 NEDRet NED7 ITA9 ITA10 RSA6 RSA6 USA2 USARet SMR11 SMR5 GBR11 GBRRet CZE2 CZE5 GER3 GER3 ITARet ITA10 FRA6 FRA9 POR7 PORRet 7th 209 2010 Ducati AUS7 AUS1 POR4 POR4 SPARet SPA2 NED4 NED6 ITA14 ITA11 RSA2 RSA5 USARet USARet SMR2 SMR5 CZE9 CZE6 GBR7 GBR10 GER2 GERRet ITA1 ITA1 FRA3 FRA9 3rd 297 2011 Ducati AUS1 AUS1 EUR3 EUR1 NED3 NED1 ITA9 ITA10 USA1 USA1 SMR1 SMR1 SPARet SPA3 CZE3 CZE3 GBR1 GBR1 GER1 GER8 ITA3 ITA1 FRA1 FRA1 POR1 POR4 1st 505 2012 Ducati AUSRet AUS1 ITA1 ITA1 NED3 NED17 ITAC ITA7 EUR6 EURRet USA1 USARet SMR2 SMRRet SPA3 SPA7 CZE4 CZE3 GBR5 GBR6 RUSRet RUS4 GER12 GER6 POR2 POR5 FRARet FRA7 4th 287.5 2013 Ducati AUSRet AUSDNS SPA7 SPA8 NED10 NED10 ITADNS ITADNS GBR12 GBRDNS POR9 POR6 ITA11 ITA12 RUSRet RUSC GBR13 GBR10 GER10 GER10 TURDNS TURDNS USA USA FRA FRA SPA SPA 15th 80

Suzuka 8 Hours results