VOL. 50 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 29, 2013
P79
HANGING UP
THE CAPE
CARLOS CHECA ANNOUNCES
HIS RETIREMENT
BY GORDON RITCHIE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
C
arlos Checa announced what had
seemed the only rational decision
after his big pelvic injury at Istanbul,
that he would retire forthwith, ending his career at a Spanish race, albeit not riding.
When asked exactly when he decided to
stop was simple for Checa – and recent.
"It was at the time I should decide what to
do next year," the former World Superbike
Champion said. "I had some offers and I
was in a situation that I am in, and I had to
decide if I continue racing or stop. I did not
want to have a compromise. I did not want to
approach something that I did not really feel
for. I can race one more year, I feel I have the
talent, the way of how to do it, but honestly
I have to ask myself, my instinct, the spirit
probably more than any other thing - and
probably in that moment the spirit was a little
bit… in some years I felt that, 'Ah, maybe that
was a sh&% year,' and maybe I was looking
for a new goal. But this time was different."
Retiring was made simpler by the fact that
Checa did finally win his World Championship and for Ducati, in 2011, after a long time
of trying.
"I had a long career and after I won the
title it was like I closed some part of my life,"
Checa said. "Winning that championship
was like the last thing, like a graduation. I
had been fighting to win the title, but always
I made a mistake, or I found a limitation here,
but I was always improving. That time in 2011
I had the opportunity and I was able to do a
perfect season. I did not make the mistakes
I did in the past. I was able to be a better
rider, and I was able to approach the races,
the important moments, with the capacity to
think to be able to be myself. For me this
was a great satisfaction, because I was able.
Then the next year, what was I able to do,
to repeat? Then I was easy to continue with
the Ducati people because we got the right
people in the team, I wanted to continue with
them, and we were still fighting for the championship, then the new rules for sure did not
talk for Ducati.
