Carlos Checa

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Carlos Checa bigraphy, stories - Motorcycle rider

Carlos Checa : biography

15 October 1972 –

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