Carlos Checa (born October 15, 1972 in Barcelona, Spain) is a Grand Prixmotorcycleroad racer. After racing in 500cc and MotoGP for over a decade, mostly on Honda and Yamaha machinery with and without full manufacturer support, he moves to World Superbikes on a Honda for 2008. He has two Grand Prix victories. He has a younger brother, David Checa, who is also a motorcycle racer, usually racing in endurance championships. 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. Carlos 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 and was listed in critical condition. He fought back to ride that year 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. His frequent and spectacular crashes have earned him the unfortunate nickname of "Charlie Chucker" referring to "chucking" the bike down the track. When Valentino Rossi joined Yamaha he was Carlos' team-mate for one year, before Carlos moved to Ducati in 2005. In 2006 he switched to ride for the Tech-3 Yamaha team, proving much steadier than in previous years and comfortably beating team-mate James Ellison but wasen't much a threat to the rest of the field, as they were on Dunlop tyres. As the sole LCR Honda rider in 2007 he has struggled, 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. For the 2008 season, Checa will leave MotoGP to join the Ten Kate Honda team in the Superbike World Championship as a replacement for 2007 champion James Toseland.[1] He is also a fan of U2. [2]
Spanish
