Checa’s perfect day
Carlos Checa experienced a ‘perfect day' at Imola on Sunday, when the Althea Racing man came away with a double victory and a new contract with the team for the 2011 season. With his double victory, the Spanish rider more than made up for his Miller debacle, when he was twice forced into retirement due to technical problems while in the lead.
All weekend, except for the tricky Superpole session, Checa proved to have a little bit of extra pace over the rest of the field and in front of his numerous Italian fans he was able to produce the goods on Sunday to take the maximum points.
"Today was the best day of my career", revealed Checa. "Everything went perfectly and I know that I rode two of the best races of my life. Superpole didn't reflect my earlier performance but in the races everything came together again, thanks to a strong start and a great pace. I feel great. The affection of my many fans, the feeling with my team that I thank for enabling me to score this incredible result, and the fact that I have done the double at Ducati's, and Team Althea Racing's, home track. I would like to congratulate Max on his title win but it has been a fantastic weekend for us too. We're going to enjoy the moment."
But Checa won't actually have much time to enjoy the moment as this coming weekend he will be in France for the final round of the season. With Rea still not 100% fit, third place overall is still on the cards and Checa will be able to focus on reaching that with no worries about next year to distract him, as he renewed his contract with Genesio Bevilacqua's team at Imola for a 2011 title attack.
"Thanks to the two year agreement signed with Checa and to Ducati for the precious support, we will strive to achieve great things", said Bevilacqua. "Carlos will help to develop the Italian manufacturer's racing activity and I am sure that we will make a good job of it. Carlos has already found the perfect mental balance so as to be able to get the best out of this bike and the team and therefore I have every confidence with regard to the future."
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