Carlos Checa Carrera (born 15 October 1972) is a Spanish former professional motorcycle road racer and winner of the 2011

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

. After racing in 500 cc and MotoGP for over a decade, mostly on

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

and Yamaha machinery with and without full manufacturer support, he moved to the

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

for .

Career

125cc, 250cc, 500cc & MotoGP World Championship

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain, Checa made his debut in 125cc and 250cc motorcycle racing in for

. In , he moved up to the

Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest Velocity, average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until ...

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 Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

'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 Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi (; born 26 June 1971) is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who achieved six World Championships. With four 250 cc road race titles and two in Superbike Wor ...

's teammate on two-strokes and

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

s. 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 Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...

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 Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

tyres as the works team, the other Hondas being on

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...

s. 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

team in the

as a replacement for champion James Toseland. At

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

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 Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

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 Jonathan Rea (born 2 February 1987) is a People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish professional Motorcycle sport, motorcycle racer. He competes in the Superbike World Championship and is a six-time champion in the series. He is the first to ha ...

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 Phillip Island (Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The island is named after Arthur Phillip, Governor Arthur P ...

, 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 Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

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 Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

circuit in France, becoming the first Spaniard and only the third European rider from outside of the United Kingdom after Raymond Roche and

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)

Superbike World Championship

By season

Races by year

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

Suzuka 8 Hours results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Checa, Carlos 1972 births Living people Spanish motorcycle racers Ducati Corse MotoGP riders Yamaha Motor Racing MotoGP riders 500cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 125cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders Motorcycle racers from Barcelona Tech3 MotoGP riders Pramac Racing MotoGP riders LCR Team MotoGP riders MotoGP World Championship riders World Rallycross Championship drivers