MotoGP – Istanbul – Lack of feeling for Checa

Carlos Checa hoped he could do better, but instead he found himself without feeling, with poor grip, little engine speed and a chassis balance that had worked much better in practice. All this, and two major risks of falling, convinced the Spaniard from Lucio Cecchinello's team to just try to finish the race without taking too many risks. Obviously, however, this does not satisfy a driver who knows that together with his team he has all the necessary skills to be able to fight for the top five places and who instead finds himself 30 seconds behind the winner and well outside the top ten.

“Twelfth place is not a good result, I wanted and expected to do better, but it was a very difficult race, worse than I expected”, says Carlos Checa. “I didn't have a good feeling with the engine or the stability at the front, especially in the fast corner in fifth gear. I almost fell on a couple of occasions, it was quite scary. From that moment I decided to finish the race without taking any risks, I was struggling with grip, engine speed, and chassis balance, which was much better in practice. We need to analyze these problems and look at the grand prix of China. As a team, rider, bike and tyres, we have the ability to do better and we must give our all to achieve the best possible result. The goal is to fight for the top five, and being outside the top ten and finishing 30 seconds behind the winner is not good."

Marika Farinazzo