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World Superbike
WSBK: Can Anyone Stop Miller’s Raging Bull?
MMP is where Carlos Checa first flashed his future as a World Superbike superstar. And this weekend's return couldn't come at a better time for the Spaniard.
Althea Racing Ducati's Carlos Checa (Photo: Althea Racing)
Who's the master of Miller Motorsports Park?
While Ben Spies has a legitimate claim, like many of the other mythical titles he's in the running for (greatest AMA Superbike rider of all-time, greatest World Superbike rider of all-time, and so on), the Texan is ultimately undone by his lack of longevity.
The nod in this particular case must go to reigning World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa, who has excelled in Salt Lake City like no other place in the world.
The Spaniard's late-career success, highlighted by his dominating march to the '11 crown on the strength of one of the more statistically impressive SBK seasons on record, is fast eroding memories of the Carlos Checa who toiled in the mid-pack throughout the bulk of his career. In a former racing life, Checa was something of the passport poster child -- an example of a beneficiary of an unfair racing business that routinely ate up and spat back out riders with similar credentials but less sponsor-friendly heritages.
In 1995 Checa was elevated to 500GP in place of the injured countryman Alberto Puig following three years spent on the undercard despite lacking either a podium result or pole position to his name. In the late '90s he broke through with a pair of home track 500GP wins, but followed that up with a decade of winless seasons despite being gifted a series of rides aboard works and satellite Hondas, Yamahas, and Ducatis in 500GP/MotoGP.
'Dumped' to World Superbike in 2008, in some ways, Checa's immediate taking to MMP sparked his reinvention as the world-beating superstar we've come to respect and admire in recent reasons. In fact, his '08 Utah double on the Ten Kate Honda marked his first professional victories outside of Spain in almost two decades of trying.
While Ben Spies has a legitimate claim, like many of the other mythical titles he's in the running for (greatest AMA Superbike rider of all-time, greatest World Superbike rider of all-time, and so on), the Texan is ultimately undone by his lack of longevity.
The nod in this particular case must go to reigning World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa, who has excelled in Salt Lake City like no other place in the world.
The Spaniard's late-career success, highlighted by his dominating march to the '11 crown on the strength of one of the more statistically impressive SBK seasons on record, is fast eroding memories of the Carlos Checa who toiled in the mid-pack throughout the bulk of his career. In a former racing life, Checa was something of the passport poster child -- an example of a beneficiary of an unfair racing business that routinely ate up and spat back out riders with similar credentials but less sponsor-friendly heritages.
In 1995 Checa was elevated to 500GP in place of the injured countryman Alberto Puig following three years spent on the undercard despite lacking either a podium result or pole position to his name. In the late '90s he broke through with a pair of home track 500GP wins, but followed that up with a decade of winless seasons despite being gifted a series of rides aboard works and satellite Hondas, Yamahas, and Ducatis in 500GP/MotoGP.
'Dumped' to World Superbike in 2008, in some ways, Checa's immediate taking to MMP sparked his reinvention as the world-beating superstar we've come to respect and admire in recent reasons. In fact, his '08 Utah double on the Ten Kate Honda marked his first professional victories outside of Spain in almost two decades of trying.
WSBK: Monza Race 0513
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