        The Spanish DAZN team following this year&rsquo;s championship is not exactly short on former riders, with Alex Crivill&eacute; and Carlos Checa taking turns, in addition to new recruit Jorge Lorenzo. We spoke to Checa, a man who wrote an important page of Superbike history when he won the 2011 title with the team Althea Ducati, to see what he had to say about the season-opener in Qatar. The emotion of the Gresini win  We started with Ducati, and Enea Bastianini&rsquo;s extraordinary win: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so pleased in terms of what this means for the Gresini team and for Fausto&rsquo;s memory. Winning this race was a tribute to Fausto, a very emotional victory. But from a technical standpoint, it&rsquo;s strange not to see the factory bikes up front&rdquo;. As for the Desmosedici GP22, one thing seems clear: &ldquo;Something prevented the factory riders from giving it their all as they usually do. Qatar is unique, but their rivals have grown significantly. Ducati wasn&rsquo;t the most interesting bike at this first round. Although it continues to be one of the best bikes, as demonstrated by Bastianini&rdquo;. Surprise and disappointment at the Qatar GP  The first race brought surprises in terms of the levels of competition: &ldquo;Pol (Espargar&oacute;) was very strong, I don&rsquo;t know what happened to Marc Marquez, but it looks as if he&rsquo;s still struggling physically. Aleix Espargar&oacute; surprised me, running one of the best races I&rsquo;ve ever seen with the Aprilia. And both Bastianini and Brad Binder surprised me too, because they&rsquo;re very young and hadn&rsquo;t scored particular results in the past, especially with the KTM&rdquo;. A number of different bikes ran up front, prompting Carlos to comment: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a more balanced championship, so it will be tough to pick a title favourite, but it will be fun because the races will be unpredictable.&rdquo; Checa: "Aprilia? Let&rsquo;s see in the next races"  As for the technical level, Checa muses: &ldquo;The Suzuki has improved, and the Honda is probably the bike that&rsquo;s changed the most. Aprilia has also taken a small step forward, though both Aprilia and Aleix Espargar&oacute; always do well in Qatar, so we&rsquo;ll need to see in the next races&rdquo;. The only manufacturer that appeared in real difficulty was Yamaha: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the bike that&rsquo;s suffering the most. Particularly because the engine really counts in Qatar and it looks like they haven&rsquo;t found the power they wanted. I'm not sure they ever will in fact, because the engine is what it is, you can&rsquo;t change it&rdquo;. Expectations for Mandalika  The next round will play out at Mandalika, where MotoGP is competing for the first time after completing a test session at the track in February. Checa has this to say: &ldquo;During the test, the asphalt was dirty and in a poor state. This time they&rsquo;ll have new asphalt, so the test references will no longer count&rdquo;. But the manufacturers might be better prepared: &ldquo;After this first round, everyone will have drawn conclusions and made some changes, particularly those who failed to meet with expectation&rdquo;. But it&rsquo;s hard to make any predictions as yet: &ldquo;The track is very different. The engine counts for less perhaps, so maybe Yamaha will have a better chance. It will be a very different race and we hope that the track will be in a good condition for the event&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson A sour start for Pedro Acosta: &ldquo;Moto2 isn&rsquo;t Moto3&rdquo;       

The former rider considers the opening round, talking about the level of competition and the difficulties suffered by Yamaha &nbsp;

Checa exclusive: “Ducati wasn’t the most interesting bike in Qatar”

        In the world championship until 2007 and then in Superbike, where he won the title in 2011, Carlos Checa is now ready for an incredible new adventure, in which he&rsquo;ll double up on the wheels. The Spaniard has announced that he will compete in the 2022 Dakar, taking place from 2 to 14 January in Saudi Arabia, at the wheel of a Buggy. Palpable excitement in his post  The post reads: &ldquo;I will take part in the next edition of the race, driving a Buggy Optimues with French team MD Rallye Sport. My navigator will be the experienced Ferran Marco. I&rsquo;d been wanting to do the Dakar for a long time and finally everything&rsquo;s come together, and I can take on this significant challenge&rdquo;. Checa officially hung up his helmet eight years ago, but he&rsquo;s kept busy ever since: &ldquo;Since leaving the racing as a Superbike rider, I&rsquo;ve never stopped putting myself to the test on both two and four wheels&nbsp;and the Dakar is the ultimate expression of motor racing in terms of the adventure and the challenge. I&rsquo;m always up for a challenge and this is exactly that, with a capital C&rdquo;. Pre-set goals  As a professional rider/driver, the 49-year old knows what he wants: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping to have a great experience, fighting for the best possible results. I&rsquo;m not going to Dakar for a mosey let's say, or as a tourist, and will be lining up with a prestigious team in the rally raid world and a very experienced navigator&rdquo;. So he has everything he needs. Good luck Carlos! Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Valentino Rossi: &ldquo;Marquez caused me to lose in 2015&rdquo;       

The former rider looks forward to the challenge and is set to drive a Buggy through the Saudi Arabian dunes: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not just going to take part&rdquo;

2 risultati per 'en carlos checa'

Checa exclusive: “Ducati wasn’t the most interesting bike in Qatar”

Dakar 2022, Carlos Checa to take part