The Althea Racing rider made a good start to race one, positioning himself fourth at the end of the first lap. On lap three he was able to get past Laverty to take third and from that point on he pushed hard to reach the two leaders, Melandri and Biaggi, who had already built up almost a two second lead. Towards mid-race, Carlos was lapping faster than anyone on track and with this impressive pace he was able to close the gap and reach Max in second position. He got past him on the twelfth lap but Biaggi almost immediately moved back in front of him. The fight for the podium places continued right up to the finish line. Checa gave it his all and his determination rewarded him with third place at a circuit that has never made his life very easy.
On an even hotter track
(50˚C), Checa made a strong start to race two. In third place at the end
of lap one, he soon reached race leaders Melandri and Biaggi. He
followed the two Italian riders for the remainder of the race, but
although he was able to stick with them he could not manage to pass
them. Carlos closed this second race of the day with the same result as
the first; a third place finish and 16 important championship points.
After
eight of thirteen rounds, Checa continues to lead the rider's
classification with a total of 293 points to Biaggi's 263. Ducati still
leads the manufacturer's championship with 305 points; Aprilia follows
with 302.
Carlos Checa:
"I'm really very happy with a double
podium here. In Race 1 my start wasn't so bad but it took a few laps to
pass Eugene and once past him it took some time to reach Max and Marco
ahead. Once there I tried to keep the pace and stick with them. It was
hard to find the right place to pass, I got by Max at one point but he
came straight back past me. It was a great battle and to be honest I am
happy with third because this has always been a tough track for me.
Considering the situation, the track, our rivals, we are quite
satisfied. We worked well all weekend, found a good set-up, chose the
right tyre and really did our best. Max and Marco were really very
strong today, it's a shame I couldn't quite be there with them but we're
happy nevertheless. We still have a lead in the championship and it is
important that we are competitive and consistently fast. Silverstone
will be another difficult one for us but then come other tracks where we
are at less of a disadvantage so we'll see. I'm taking it one race at a
time."
Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager of Althea Racing:
"It
was another rather difficult day for reasons that have to do with the
bike; on these types of track the four cyclinders have a clear advantage
in terms of acceleration. it is simply not at the level of our rivals'
bikes when it comes to power and acceleration. Carlos proved himself to
be in the right mental and physical condition to be able to fight. He
did his best, as did the bike, and now we look forward to tracks that
are more favourable to us, or at least where we can be equal to our
rivals. I thank everybody that has contributed - the whole team for its
hard work all weekend, Ducati and all of our sponsors."
RESULTS: Race 1 - 1. Melandri (Yamaha); 2. Biaggi (Aprilia); 3. Checa (Ducati). Race 2 - 1. Biaggi (Aprilia); 2. Melandri (Yamaha); 3. Checa (Ducati).
CLASSIFICATION: Riders - 1. Checa (Ducati) 293; 2. Biaggi (Aprilia) 263; 3. Melandri (Yamaha) 240; 4. Laverty (Yamaha) 168; 5. Haslam (BMW) 137; 6. Camier (Aprilia) 134; 7. Fabrizio (Suzuki) 134; 8. Badovini (BMW) 106...... Manufacturers - Ducati 305; Aprilia 302; Yamaha 280; BMW 173; Suzuki 138; Kawasaki 126; Honda 113
