Carlos Checa doesn’t have the best track record at Monza. The Althea Ducati rider has a best finish of 8th place at Monza and last year failed to break into the top 10. Checa’s problems at the Italian circuit persisted today as he failed to keep pace with the top riders.
As Max Biaggi set the top speed record for the Monza track, Checa, the World Superbike points leader, pulled into a 14th place finish during qualifying. But Checa isn’t too worried about the other riders.
“To tell the truth I’m calm,” Checa said. “I’m not thinking about what the others are doing, I just want to do my best.”
Checa experienced the same sort of limitations during the 2010 World Superbike season. Max Biaggi would pull away during the straight aways, and Checa would cut down the gap in the corners.
The Monza circuit is one of the fastest tracks on the World Superbike schedule this year, and includes a straight away of nearly 1200 meters (4000 feet). Biaggi, who did the double at Monza in 2010, clearly has the advantage heading into tomorrow’s race.
But Checa has been the most dominant rider of the 2011 season, claiming four victories out of six races so far. The Althea Racing team has some work to do to make Checa's motorcycle competitive, but don't count Checa out for this weekend's race just yet.
“We clearly have some limitations with regard to top speed but there are also sections of the track where I am not riding at 100%,” Checa said. “We need to understand why this is and work to resolve it tomorrow. Personally I would like to improve on last year’s Monza race results. I hope this is possible but it remains to be seen as to whether we can stick with the four cylinder bikes.”
