[CB900F]

Fella's;

I'm not sure exactly where Carlos's head is this season, but it's not where it was last season. A sixteenth spot on the grid at Misano is indicative of the continuing problems that plague him this year. A poor qualifying makes it damned tough to win races. And, of course, having to charge through the pack in order to score the needed points only makes the possibility of an accident more probable. Which is exactly what did happen to Carlos in race two of Misano. Race one proved that the bike has the speed, finishing second from that far back on the grid. Which makes the qualifying effort a puzzle.

Miller proved that Carlos can qualify, and conditions there were less than ideal. This lack of consistency points to problems other than mechanical. Whatever's going on in Mr. Checa's head has now cost him any realistic chance at repeating his WSBK title for 2012. While I do realize that there's about half the season left to go, he's in a pretty deep hole. The depth of which is compounded by his knowing that it's pretty much a hole of his own making.

I wish him all the luck in the world for the balance of this year's championship, but he's gonna need it to pull out a satisfying conclusion to it. Which brings us to thinking about next year.

Will Ducati campaign the Panigale in WSBK next year? I don't see how they can avoid it. Will Carlos be on it? He's certainly earned the seat in my opinion, but I don't speak Italian. Will the silly season follies going on in MotoGP affect seats in WBSK? I think anybody betting against that proposition is going to lose money.

Nonetheless, I think that WSBK racing provides a much better show than MotoGP at this time. However, the behind the scenes politics will tell the tale of who's going to dominate in grabbing spectators, & therefore television money.

900F

[ducati darius]

I'm no expert but it looks like Checa, has too stay on or near the limit, all the time, and that's playing
with fire IMO.
I think He'll be on a Factory supported Panigale next year he's earned that...

[redonred]

Seems like last round's crash while leading was him just needlessly pushing too hard when he already had a comfortable lead.

Other than that I think it's been poor communication/decision making by his team as a whole.

Starting in 16th and twice blazing through over half the pack in a few laps, (much less clear up to 2nd) shows just how much faster than everyone he and Biaggi are, and that's with him going offtrack once as well.

He just needs better management of his assets. He clearly has the skill and the bike to get back on top if they quit making poor decisions.

He's gonna need Biaggi to make some mistakes though, and that doesn't seem to happen too often.

[Neo-996]

This one wasn't Checa's fault but coming from the back of the grid isn't a good mental place to start from either.

There is still a lot of racing to go. He must be spot on from here on out and hope Biaggi is spot off. I don't see Biaggi really being much of a threat - he is consistent but he also has the history of throwing it away at times.

Checa is old - he may have retirement on his mind.

[Wa11er98S]

16th to 2nd...what makes you think he is losing the edge? If you look back at race 1 he was held up in traffic for 3 laps by Badovini; had that not happened he would have won race 1.

He has had some bad luck with crashes, but that just shows how hard he is pushing.

16th to 7th in 1 lap, before he got clipped, on race 2...

I agree his entire team has made mistakes this season, but to say his head is not in the game is bullshit and unfair. The man is pushing to the maximum. And it shows if you look at race 1 start to finish!

Yes, crap qualifying happens, and yes it makes it hard to win, but when you go from a shit grid postion to 8th on the starting 2 laps...winning for him isn't hard at all from 8th.

P.S. Max "I Run Wide" Biaggi makes plenty of mistakes...he just had a good race weekend.

[one2gamble]

i think those extra 6lbs are making it push that much harder. Hes gettig crushed in the straights so needs to make up a ton of time in the turns.

Someone hit him today but still.

[Twisted10]

he's not done.

lets not close the book on him just yet...

[DucatiDern]

I'm watching race 2 now. Poor checa.

These announcers are effing great. The shit that comes out of their mouth is hilarious.

[Duc-Duc-Goose]

Looks like he's having a similar season running the #1 plate as champion as Biaggi had last year. Could it be the pressure to repeat? I don't know!

Someone mentioned that Biaggi has to be "spot off" which doesn't happen. Um yeah, are you speaking of the same Max Biaggi that we all know of? Cuz if anything, he is know for mental mistakes at the most inopportune times. He just doesn't "throw it away" often.

[hoser]

I haven't seen the races yet, but Carlos is one good rider, shit happens.

even though i have not met him in person he seems like a very nice humble person with a great attitude, I'm cheering for him. He's had some bad luck so far, but that is temporary.