CARLOS CHECA - FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM #7

I don't know if it was a premonition or a coincidence but on the day of my birth my father had a motorcycle accident on the way to see me at the hospital for the first time. Ten years later, he turned up at school with a Mecatecno he had bought me and I was able to ride for the first time with him because my father would not allow me if he was not there. When I was thirteen he bought me an 80cc motocross bike and I began racing and messing about on scooters. I made a group of friends who ended up becoming my first team.
With my friends and very few resources I contested my first race on asphalt at a local circuit called Can Padró. I had a Honda NSR 80cc and then I moved on to a Rieju, winning the Catalunyan Championship and taking the first steps towards GP racing with fourth place in the Spanish Championship and eighth in the European. I rode with a Honda and did some races on a home made bike called Viali, which never grew beyond that stage because of a lack of funds.
My first World Championship race was the European Grand Prix at Catalunya. I raced as a wildcard and I finished seventh after battling with "Aspar" and Gianola. I raised my hands to the sky and the Pit-Lane team approached me to finish the season with them riding a 250cc for the last six races. It was tough getting the money together but I finished ninth in Jarama and I signed for the same team in the following season, finishing twelfth as the best privateer in the class.
Things progressed very rapidly in 1995. I began in 250cc with a team run by Sito Pons and we mixed up some good results with a few crashes and some technical problems. A serious injury to Alberto Puig at Le Mans catapulted me onto his NSR500 and towards the end of the season I led the Gran Premio de Catalunya twice before crashing out. The Open Ducados 250cc title rounded off a very good season and the following year I took my first GP win at Catalunya. The second didn't come until Jarama in 1998 after taking several second places and more than my fair share of crashes.
In 1998 I combined my best ever classification (4th), with that famous crash at Donington. After having my spleen removed I had a blood clot which almost killed me, and I must admit I was worried for my life. I fought for every second and I pulled through, and at the end of that season I left Sito Pons to sign for Yamaha and begin a new challenge in my career.
I spent my first season with Yamaha trying to understand a bike which was not suited to my style and I had many frustrating crashes despite starting the season with a podium in Sepang. I was constantly losing the front end and there seemed to be no solution to the problem. One year later, in 2000, the results covered up the situation and I arrived at Catalunya as joint leader with Roberts. I was so keen to do well at my home race but I sank in the water that fell that day and could not recover my form. Once again I arrived at the last few races knowing that circumstances had wrecked my chances.
One year later I enjoyed a good preseason but was aware in the first race at Suzuka that I could not be at the front. I injured myself in a bizarre crash riding supermotard at Can Padró and missed the second race at Welkom. It knocked my confidence pretty badly but I made the podium three times and I could have won the last ever 500cc Grand Prix in Rio if Anthony West had not got in my way on the last lap.
In 2002 I felt much more comfortable with the arrival of the four-strokes and I was consistently in the top three, even though I knew that the Hondas of Rossi and Ukawa were unstoppable. I took four podiums but went backwards in the final few races of the season and what could have been a runner-up spot ended up being fifth place thanks to major chassis problems in Motegi, Sepang and Phillip Island and a start grid crash in Valencia. My comebacks in Estoril and Rio after getting left behind at the start and my crashes at Rio and Donington when I was leading the race left me with a sweet and sour taste overall.

[Modificato da offalcon 09/11/2003 2.13]

Di solito poco si sa dei campioni fuori dal motoGP ma questa foto invece la dice lunga sul carattere spericolato e sugli hobbies di Carlos...