Carlos Checa : biography
Carlos "Charlie" Checa (born October 15, 1972 in Barcelona, Spain) is a 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 . He has two Grand Prix victories. He has a younger brother, David Checa, also a motorcycle racer who competed in the Superbike World Championship for .
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 team-mate 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 & only the 3rd European rider from outside of the United Kingdom after Raymond Roche & Max Biaggi to have done so.
Career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season
Season | Class | Moto | Team | Race | Win | Pod | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd | WCh |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | 125 cc | Honda RS125 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 27th | – | |
250 cc | Honda RS250 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 23rd | – | ||
1994 | 250 cc | Honda RS250 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 12th | – | |
1995 | 250 cc | Honda NSR250 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 13th | – | |
500 cc | Honda NSR500 | Pons Racing | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 16th | – | |
1996 | 500 cc | Honda NSR500 | Pons Racing | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 124 | 8th | – |
1997 | 500 cc | Honda NSR500 | Pons Racing | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 119 | 8th | – |
1998 | 500 cc | Honda NSR500 | Pons Racing | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 139 | 4th | – |
1999 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | Yamaha-YMR | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 7th | – |
2000 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | Yamaha-YMR | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 155 | 6th | – |
2001 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | Yamaha-YMR | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 6th | – |
2002 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | Yamaha-YMR | 16 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 141 | 5th | – |
2003 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | Yamaha-YMR | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 7th | – |
2004 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | Yamaha-YMR | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 117 | 7th | – |
2005 | MotoGP | Ducati GP5 | Ducati Corse | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 138 | 9th | – |
2006 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | Tech 3 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 15th | – |
2007 | MotoGP | Honda RC212V | Team LCR | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 14th | – |
2010}} | MotoGP | Ducati GP10 | Pramac Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21st | – |
Total | 222 | 2 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 1602 | 0 |