checa confirms his staying in motogp with tech 3

Carlos Checa confirmed this Tuesday that he will be given the opportunity to once again compete in MotoGP this season. His signing for Hervé Poncharal´s Yamaha Tech 3 Team will come as a welcome relief for both the rider and his fans.

The Catalan rider has closed the book on nearly a month of uncertainty and speculation. At the start of the year, with Sito Pons´ late decision to pull out of this year´s World Championship, Checa found himself without a team and with a tough task ahead of him if he wished to continue in the premier class. Finally, due to the collaboration of a number of factors-especially the efforts of Yamaha and Dunlop-the situation was resolved favourably.

“After three weeks marred by doubt, tension and many talks, I can now confirm that I will take part to the next edition of the MotoGP World Championship, riding a Dunlop-shod Yamaha for the Tech3 team,” said Checa. “This announcement puts an end to an odd winter, but I end up with an interesting project and a guaranteed spot on the grid for 2006. We were eventually able to turn around a complicated situation, but it’s only the beginning of a new challenge that I take up with a huge motivation.”

“I must thank Hervé Poncharal, the Tech3 team manager, for his confidence, and also Yamaha and Dunlop for their support. Yamaha is supporting me again after a year ‘out’ and personally, I feel like I’m coming back home. I’m pleased to have this opportunity to ride the most competitive bike of the field.”

“Dunlop also trust me and I thank them for that. We’ll have a lot of work obviously, to be as competitive as possible and from my experience I know that the tyres are a key-element of the package, but I’m pretty confident and fully trust Dunlop’s engineers and technicians. Working hard with them and the team, we’ll all do our best to get the best possible results. Anyway, it’s not time to talk about goals and targets – for now it’s all about getting back to work as soon as possible.”

The Spaniard, in the saddle of an M1 kitted out with Dunlop tyres, becomes the teammate of Brit James Ellison, completing Poncharal´s squadron for this season. His debut with his new team could be as soon as next week, when the Yamaha teams will undertake three days of testing in Qatar.

Checa wanted to end his statement by emphasising the important changes that his sporting career has undergone in such a short space of time. “Four months ago I was riding a Ducati with Bridgestone: two months later I got on a Honda with Michelins and now, for the 2006 season, I´m running with a Yamaha on Dunlops. The most direct and effective way to show my gratitude for the confidence and support of everyone will be to work tirelessly to have a good season”