Carlos Checa heads to Monza with questions on shoulder fitness

from Twowheelsblog

The historic Monza circuit will be hosting the fourth round of the World Superbike championship this upcoming weekend, however Ducati Alstare rider Carlos Checa will be heading to the temple of speed with some doubts regarding his fitness and with the knowledge that it will be another tough round, because the Panigale will be struggling against the four cylinders again, even if Ducati will now be allowed to use a 52mm air restrictor.

The former World Champion was banged up pretty badly at Phillip Island first in practice and then in race 1 where he suffered a concussion, and later discovered he discovered he had a pair of cracked bones in his right foot.

Crashing a go-kart during a pre-race event at Assen left him bruised again and to add insult to injury he was also stung by a bee during the race and started to have shoulder problems.

Checa had a medical check-up following the Assen round which revealed that he had an osseous edema on the head of the humerus of the left shoulder, an injury that were probably a result from a previous trauma and which has worsened and become inflamed as a result of effort made during the races.

The Spanish rider has undergone an intense course of physiotherapy treatment to reduce the inflammation and the trauma, in order to be physically fit for this weekend’s races at Monza.

During the last couple of events, especially in the races themselves, I’ve been having some problems with my left shoulder but the evening after the second race in Assen the pain got a lot worse. I went to see a specialist once I got back to Spain after that round and unfortunately he’s told me that I have an osseous edema on the humerus. I will continue to receive treatment in Spain up until Thursday and I hope that that will help me to get through this coming weekend without any problems,’ said Checa.

While team mate Ayrton Badovini seems to have recovered from his previous injuries and can’t wait to race in the first of his ‘home’ rounds:

I’ve always enjoyed the Monza round, it’s always fun to race at home. It will be challenging because of the long straights but we’ll do our best to bring home the best possible result. Being one of two Italian events, I hope that there’ll be a good crowd, fans, sponsors… The support of the people, at an event like Monza, really helps and spurs me on.’