Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Checa 's condition conti nued to d eteriorate. "I sta rted to lose my vision," he sa id . "Then I started to ge t paralyzed in my arm." Team coordi nator and forme r rid er Alberto Puig stayed at his bedside; tea m owner Sito Pons flew his par ent s in from Barce lo na . Sightless, en feebled, racked w ith pain, Checa's agony con tinued for 14 ho urs. " I th o u ght I , was d y i n g ," C heca re call s , "b u t h o w d o yo u know? I'd never died before." Th en - an d this is Checa's mi racl e • the condi tio n started to clear, seemingly of its own accord . Baffled doctors suspected a blo od clot, bu t la ter sai d th is w as not so . It seemed Checa ha d suffe re d some sort of a stroke, bu t they d id n't know quite why. "They sa id they had never seen this before: ' Checa sa id . From that m om en t on, Checa began his recovery. "At first , I.wanted only to live - to go h o m e , a nd be with ' my fa m ily," he ad mits. Afte r al most tw o weeks, in a very debilita ted cond itio n, he was allowed to retu rn home to Spa in. Quite apart fro m th e n er v ous co llapse, the injury and o peration had been bad eno ug h. " A l m os t all m y bl o od had be e n changed:' he sa id . "I had six liters 02.6 pi nt s) in transfusio ns . My friends joked that I was half-English now ." We spo ke to Che ca before the City of Im ola G P - his seco nd race back after missing o n ly on e round, th e German GP, w hich preced ed th e lon g four-week midsumm e r bre a k . We we re in the MoviStar mo torhome, with Pu ig alo ngsi de to help w i th th e tra n sl ati on th ou gh Ch eca's English is far from sha bby , an d he exp resses himself clearly . He spoke about how he' d started riding at 9 o r 10, w h e n h is fat her h a d bo ug h t h im a m inibi ke ; of h o w h is fathe r ha d given up his own biking after a crash w he n he was on his wa y to hospital on the day' tha t Ca rlos was bo rn . Th e bl ea c hed tip s to his on ce-ag a in d a r k-roo ted -h a ir surmounted a fa ce thinner an d more hawklike than before. He wa s still not fully fit, he acknowledged, adding, "and w hen I ge t tired on the bike , I get pa in from th e operation scar on my stomach." Rehab was tough . Knowing nothing d ifferent , he wan ted at least to try to get back in to racing as soon as possible . "I was doi ng exercise, but I was not gai ning pow er as you would normally," Checa sa id . "My body was taking everyth ing ju st to recov er. All the doctors in Spain told me I must not race aga in for the rest of the year." He pushed ahea d anyway, and after ' he had passed special tests, he had convinced them tha t he was s tro ng enoug h to join in M o v iStar tea m te st s in Barcel ona , befo re th e Czech R epublic GP - barely six weeks after the crash . A lthough vis ib ly w eak, C heca had clearly not for gotten how to ride. " I sta rted to beli eve tha t p erhaps I would be able to do w ha t I liked again: ' he said . But it w as not until h e managed to push on to a heroic seven th- place finis h a t Brn o, a fte r su rviving a fie r y hi g hsider cra sh in p ractice, that he sta rted to see the real possibility of a fu ll recovery . " N o w my th inking has changed a bit," Ch eca said . "Now I beli ev e th at I ca n live lik e before th e acciden t, a nd maybe in not much tim e I ca n fight for races, and next year for the title. When you a lm os t di e, th en you ha ve m o re respe ct for w ha t you have. I am not here fo r fu n . I want to g et the cha m p iseason in 1994, so metimes bea ting the works bikes. But when I got the works ons hip ." C heca 's re turn brought wi th it a bike, it was d ifficult. Maybe it was the res u mp tion of interest from Yamaha . Miche lins, maybe I d id n't communicate well with the team. And it was a new Th is wa s n o w more comp lica ted , team . I ha d many crashes, but we were because Ma x Biaggi was also now negost arting to find the way w hen I moved tiating with the Japanese factory. 'to SODs. "For me: ' said Checa, "it is very diffi"With the SO many thin gs on the D, cu lt now . Af ter the crash, I pushed very b ike w ere al ready perfec t w hen I har d to stay in ra cing. I am still no t perar rived. Also, there was no pr essure on fect - I'm still working . And now comes this opportunity to change from Honda me. I could relax - and just gas it." . H is dirt-bike experience ("Just for to Ya ma ha . My m enta l cap acity is furi - bu t I. st ill d o m ot ocross for p rac already fu lly u sed. I am no t in a good tice.") paid off. position to decid e. But I want to decide in two weeks, befo re the Barcelona GP." " I knew how to u se the th ro ttle to Checa ca me to the 500cc class after control th e sliding - it's because there is just one fu ll seaso n in th e 250cc class m ore pow er tha n th e tire or the bike can ha ndle:' he sai d. "Sa me as on th e di rt." d rafted in midseason in 1995 after Pui g In 1996 Checa was eighth overall, and suffered serio us leg injuries at Le Man s. d istinguish ed h imse lf even m ore at It had been a rapid rise, after making his Catalunya, leading the race and staying G P d ebut o n a 125 in hi s home GP in on board for a firs t full-season w in . Th e 1993. H is 1994 se ason saw him fin is h '97 seaso n saw him eighth again, w ith 12th on a stock Honda; and in 1995 on a works bike (ridi ng a ll th e time for exthr ee seco nd p laces but no m ore w ins . cha m pio n Sito Pon s) he had sco red tw o And in 1998, he carried on bu ilding up his fo urt h-place fin ish es , w hile ea rn in g • '\£verall s treng th as him self a repu tation as th e man most an all -around likely to crash. Then came Puig's crash, racer . and at 21 he was thru st di rect.I,:.:o~ _a -y n~to ii~::~~~: 500. . H e s eem ed the start. A n cio u s d ebu t a t Doning ton Park AI ... . end ed in a midrace threebike pileup, but Checa was in the top 10 for the .,.'"l 4 next th re e ro und s . Th en ca me th e s eason-closing European GP at Barc elona, his ho me race. And this tim e.Checa showed star qu ali ty - seizing th e lead and hold ing on to it und er se ve re pressure fro m ultim ate w in n er CrivilIe, b efore fin ally pushing one step too far and fallin g off. It wa s obvious ly clear that he was a natural 500cc rid er . " O n th e 250 , I al mos t los t confi dence : ' Chec a a d m its . " I had a good "Checa' s fas t, and he's been learning . Now you ca n see h e ' s s ta r ti ng to put th e race s to ge ther really well, " sai d Wayn e Rainey. A ll the same, h e did not expect to win in Ma d rid , w here he led fro m start to finis h, fen ding off a strong cha llenge fro m Luca Ca dalora before the la tter's Yamaha broke down. "I don' t understan d w hy I wo n:' Checa said. "Maybe it was jus t becau se Doohan was knocked off on the first lap , or Ca dalora bro ke d ow n . It w as not a fast race , and my bike was no t perfect for the track." This begs the qu estion: Can Doo ha n be beat en ? His answer reflects th at he is toying w ith th e Yamaha alterna tive . "If yo u wa nt to beat him, yo u must cha nge yo ur bike, yo u r tra nsmission, your tires ... The bik e and th e tires are m ade for him. Th ere are many Honda riders w ho hav e th e same bike and tires. But he is Honda's firs t rid er, and he has much confi dence . " W hen Ya maha and Su zuki h ad good rid ers, it was m ore difficult for him to win. But when I ca me, riding the same bi ke as him, he had eig ht years ' ad va ntage. The othe r rea son is sim ple: He is a good rider." Checa also fea rs Biaggi in his quest next season. " H is adva ntage is th at he won the 250 champio ns hip fo r t he la s t fou r years," Checa sa id . " He knows w hat he has to do." C heca is guarded in his commen ts ab o ut his te am m a te Kocinski, w i t h whom he has "no relationship. It does \ . n o t e xist . ' G o o d morning : 'Good . ni gh t,' That's all. He is always working w ith the bike ," Kocinski' s tendency to chase bike settings a ll around the house t h ro u gh p rac tice o nly to e nd up w ith w ha t he starte d with is a s o u r ce of m uch amu sement inside th e MoviS ta r pit, w here C h e ca's m e ch an i c s ' enjoy asking ~ \heir co unte rpa r ts . po inted ly a bout th e . . . p ro g res s of " the Mill ion Dollar Kid," ~ But Checa normally ~ steers clear of contro- ~ ve rsy. A q uiet, farni- _ ly-l o v ing ma n w h o ha s no p erma nent g ir lf rien d, and prefers co nversatio n, m ovies o r reading to d an cing and club bi ng, he is also a dedicated ra cer, w it h a s tr o n g belief in his ow n des tiny. Tha t dedication wa s put to a ste rn tes t with his acciden t in Eng land . So far, it h a s p a ssed w ith flyi n g . colors. _0 9

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