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-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

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

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

and

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

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 David Checa (born 20 April 1980) is a Spanish professional motorcycle road racer. He is four time FIM Endurance World Champion, winning the title in 2004, 2014, 2016-2017 and 2018-2019. In 2016 he was the French Superbike Champion. He previously ...

, 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 coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

, 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 average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. T ...

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 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, still owned b ...

'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 road racer who achieved six World Championships. With four 250 cc road race titles and two in World Superbikes, he is one of only two ri ...

'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, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. () is the motorcycle-manufacturing division of Italian company Ducati, headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini, whose German parent company is Au ...

in . In 2006 he returned to the

Tech 3 Tech3 is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP class World Championship under the name Tech3 GasGas Factory Racing. They also compete in the Moto3 World Championship under the name Red Bull KTM Tech3 and the MotoE World Cup under the ...

Yamaha team, proving much steadier than in previous years and comfortably beating teammate

James Ellison James Ellison may refer to: * James O. Ellison (1929–2014), U.S. federal judge * James T. Ellison (1862–1920s), New York gangster *James Ellison (actor) (1910–1993), American film actor *James Ellison (footballer, born 1901) (1901–1958), En ...

, but was not much a threat to the rest of the field, as they were on

Dunlop tyres Dunlop Tyres is a brand of tyres which is managed by different companies around the world. It was founded by pneumatic tyre pioneer John Boyd Dunlop in Dublin, Ireland, in 1890. The brand is operated by Goodyear in North America (passenger c ...

. He struggled as the sole LCR Honda rider in 2007, with the 800cc Honda proving uncompetitive for many riders. At the

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship ...

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 (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

tyres as the works team, the other Hondas being on

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...

s. Checa returned to the series in , as replacement for

Mika Kallio Mika Kallio (born 8 November 1982) is a Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racer, currently serving as the lead test and development rider for the Red Bull KTM team in MotoGP. He debuted in the 125cc World Championship with the Finnish rookie team Aj ...

for the last two races of the season.

Superbike World Championship

For the season, Checa left MotoGP to join the

Ten Kate Ten Kate is a Dutch toponymic surname originally meaning "at the house". The modern Dutch word ''kot'' ("kennel") still reminds of the archaic words ''kate'', ''kote'', and ''kotte'' for "house".Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

team in the

as a replacement for champion

James Toseland James Michael Toseland (born 5 October 1980) is an English former motorcycle racer and vocalist of his own rock band named Toseland. For 2020, he is team-manager of Wepol Racing with riders in World Supersport and Supersport 300.Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

he challenged

Max Neukirchner Max Neukirchner (born 20 April 1983 in Stollberg, East Germany) is a professional motorcycle racer currently competing in the Endurance FIM World Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1. Career Supersport & Superbike World Championship In he compet ...

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 Utah Motorsports Campus is a race track facility located in Grantsville near Tooele, Utah, United States. It operated under the name of Miller Motorsports Park from 2006 until October 2015. The course has hosted auto, motorcycle, bicycle and kar ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

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 (born September 23, 1982 in Saitama, Japan) is a professional motorcycle road racer. He previously rode a Honda CBR1000RR in the MFJ All-Japan Road Race JSB1000 Championship. He was the 2006, 2007 and 2010 British Superbike champion an ...

. 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 Leon Lloyd Haslam (born 31 May 1983, in the London Borough of Ealing) is a motorcycle road racer based in Derbyshire, England. In February 2022, Haslam confirmed he would be racing in British Superbikes for Lee Hardy Racing on a Kawasaki Z ...

. During the 2009 season, Ten Kate Honda announced that they would be downsizing their operation from three riders to just two. Both Checa and

were released, with

Jonathan Rea Jonathan Rea (born 2 February 1987) is a Northern Irish professional motorcycle racer. He competes in the Superbike World Championship and is a six-time champion in the series. He is the first to have won the Superbike World Championship six ...

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: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explorer ...

, and was on course for victories in both races at

in the United States before suffering mystery mechanical failures in both races. Checa went on to win the Italian round at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla 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 re ...

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 of ...

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

Raymond Roche Raymond Roche (born 21 February 1957 in Ollioules) is a French former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Motorcycle racing career In 1981, he teamed up with Jean Lafond to win the FIM Endurance World Championship. His best year in ...

and

to have done so.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Superbike World Championship

By season

Races by year

(

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

Suzuka 8 Hours results

References

External links

carloscheca.com
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Checa, Carlos 1972 births Living people Spanish motorcycle racers Motorcycle racers from Catalonia 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 Sportspeople from Barcelona Tech3 MotoGP riders Pramac Racing MotoGP riders LCR Team MotoGP riders MotoGP World Championship riders World Rallycross Championship drivers