Carlos Checa

 

Famous for his exploits on two wheels rather than four, Carlos Checa spent more than a decade competing in motorcycling’s top flight, tallying 24 podium finishes including a brace of victories before lifting the laurels in the World Superbike Championship in 2011.

After making his debut in the 125cc category in 1993, Checa stepped up a level to 250cc and subsequently graduated to 500cc midway through 1995 as a replacement for injured countryman Alberto Puig. He posted fastest lap in the season finale on home soil at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The Spaniard reached the rostrum for the first time in the 1996 curtain-raiser, which he followed up with his breakthrough win – in Barcelona again – later in the campaign, marking Honda’s 100^th grand prix success in the premier class. A serious accident at Donington Park in 1998 left him requiring emergency surgery, but he was back on the bike after missing only two races and went on to finish a career-high fourth in the World Championship standings that year.

Checa subsequently switched to Yamaha machinery, on which he remained as 500cc transitioned into MotoGP in 2002, placing inside the top six in the overall classification on a further three occasions. His final full season at the highest level was 2007.

In 2008, the Barcelona native switched to the World Superbike Championship and was immediately a front-runner. Fourth in his maiden campaign – racing to a double top in the United States – he improved to third two years later and in 2011, prevailed on no fewer than 15 occasions, in so doing becoming the first Spaniard in history to clinch the WSBK crown.

Checa’s other notable achievements include a victory in the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance classic in 2008 alongside multiple British Superbike Champion Ryuichi Kiyonari. He made his rallycross bow in the final round of the 2022 FIA RX2e Championship in Catalunya.