Carlos Checa

Carlos Checa underwent examination for shoulder pain after the Assen round and found he had an osseous edema on the head of the humerus of the left shoulder, probably the result of an older injury, enraged by the weekend's exertion. This morning, it was confirmed that he would be pulling out of the remainder of the Monza weekend. The 2011 world champion aims to be fit in time to race at the Donington round in two week's time.

The Alstare Ducati World Superbike team issued the following press release after their two-day test at Jerez:

Team SBK Ducati Alstare completes a positive two-day test at Jerez

Jerez (Spain), Wednesday 17th April 2013: Team SBK Ducati Alstare has today concluded an encouraging two-day test session at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

Having travelled directly from MotorLand Aragon after Round 2 of the world championship last Sunday, the team’s riders Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini worked hard with their technicians as they concentrated on refining the set-up of their 1199 Panigale bikes. In very warm conditions (32˚C approx), with track temperatures in the region of 55˚C, the team had time to test all of the solutions available in terms of bike set-up, focusing particularly on identifying settings and improving traction in preparation for upcoming races.

Carlos Checa: ‘These were two very important days that we used to better understand the bike’s reactions. The weather helped us this time around too. We worked on different solutions for both the front and rear setting and in the end I’m happy with what we were able to get done. We’ve found a set-up that I like and this is important in order to have a good base from which to start at Assen.’

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Press releases from the World Superbike and World Supersport teams, as well as the series organizer, after qualifying on Saturday at Phillip Island:

The Alstare Ducati team have today unveiled their official livery for the 2013 season, and as expected with a team that is so heavily backed by the factory, the predominant color is red. Though the Alstare effort goes without a title sponsor, four sponsors feature prominently. Energy T.I. is an Italian gas and electricity company aimed at the retail market, and also backs Andrea Iannone's half of the Pramac garage in MotoGP. Italian telecoms company TIM have defected from Ducati's MotoGP effort to join the Alstare WSBK team, while battery maker FIAMM also features heavily. Almost inevitably, the team also has an energy drink sponsor: on the Alstare bike, it is FICC, a newcomer to the market who backed Davide Giugliano last year, and which is associated with Flavio Briatore, the former Renault F1 boss.

Below are the photos of the new livery, courtesy of Alstare Ducati, and underneath the photos you will find the official press release from the team:

With the first full test for the World Superbike class behind us, and the first test of the MotoGP grid about to get underway at Sepang at the end of this week, it is time to take a look at motorcycle racing's preseason, and evaluate where we stand so far. Just what is the state of play for both MotoGP and World Superbike in 2013?

The question is even more pertinent now that both series have been taken under the wing of Dorna, much to the consternation of World Superbike fans and, to some extent, the WSBK paddock as well. It was feared that Dorna would either kill off World Superbike entirely to strengthen the position of MotoGP, or impose such stringent technical regulations on the series as to dumb it down to Superstock spec.

Fortunately, neither of those options looks likely. World Superbikes will continue as a separate series, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta was keen to explain when quizzed about the takeover at Ducati's Wrooom launch event early in January. The aim is to build a strong WSBK series to stand alongside MotoGP, preserving the unique identity of the two series - WSBK as a place to race production bikes, MotoGP as the series for racing prototypes.

The Alstare Ducati World Superbike team issued the following press release after the conclusion of their test at Jerez:

The 2013 season has gotten off to a very damp start for Ducati. The Bologna factory had booked the Jerez circuit for a three-day test, for both the Alstare Ducati World Superbike team and the Ducati MotoGP test team with Michele Pirro and Franco Battaini, but the rain meant that they only got a few hours of testing done, and all of that was on Monday.

Despite only managing a few laps, the test counts as successful for the Alstare Ducati team. Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini both managed some forty laps, with Checa quickly up to speed and bettering his time from the last visit to Jerez at the end of November last year by over a second, according to times posted by the respected Italian site GPOne.com. Badovini's progress was much more limited: the Italian was just a couple of tenths quicker than his time from November, and over a second and a half slower than Checa's lap time, the Spaniard having set his fastest time on a set of soft tires.

The last day of testing of 2012 turned out to be a mirror image of the MotoGP season just finished. As it had so many times this year, rain and wind ruined conditions, making the track far too dangerous for slick tires, and too dry to do any proper testing on wets. And just as they had done so often this year, the few riders remaining at the Jerez combined MotoGP and World Superbike test spent the day sitting in the garage, watching the weather, before calling an early halt to proceedings and heading home.

A few riders did briefly venture out, though to little effect. Nicky Hayden had stayed on for an extra day to help the testing program, after Andrea Dovizioso's neck problem meant that the Italian did only three laps over the first two days of the test. Hayden went out for a few laps to compare the two different wet compounds, and Ducati test rider Michele Pirro put in a few laps as well, but both Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone chose to sit out the final day. Dovizioso's neck problems had not subsided sufficiently, and the conditions were not worth the risk, while Iannone did not feel there was anything to learn on the treacherous conditions.

Ducati today confirmed that they have signed an agreement the Francis Batta for the Belgian to run their World Superbike team for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The announcement had been expected for some time, as Batta had been linked to the deal almost immediately after the shock announcement that talks between Althea and Ducati had collapsed.

The team will be contesting the 2013 World Superbike Championship with the Ducati 1199 Panigale. Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini have signed up for the team, and will ride the Panigale in Alstare colors next season.

Below is the press release announcing the deal:

Ducati and Team Alstare together in World Superbike for two years as "Team Ducati Alstare"

As reported earlier, Althea and Ducati Corse have gone their separate ways, leaving Carlos Checa, who was under contract to Ducati, rather than Althea, in limbo. Today, Ducati Corse issued a press release reaffirming that Ducati will be racing in 2013, and that Carlos Checa will be their rider. The press relase is shown below:

Ducati confirms Carlos Checa in its 2013 World Superbike preparations

• Ducati continues preparations for 2013 World Superbike season.
• Carlos Checa confirmed as official rider.
• Cooperation with Team Althea Racing discontinued.

Borgo Panigale (Bologna), 29 October 2012 – Ducati is finalising its plans for the 2013 World Superbike Championship, both in the development of the 1199 Panigale and how it will participate in the series.

The company has already confirmed the renewal of its contract with Carlos Checa, who won the 2011 World Superbike Championship on a Ducati 1198, and the Spanish rider will now continue development of the new Ducati 1199 Panigale ready for its World Superbike debut year.

The Althea team have terminated their association with Ducati. After prolonged negotiations between Althea team boss Genesio Belvilacqua and Ducati Corse, in which the two could not reach an agreement on several key areas, Belvilacqua has decided to end their collaboration, and look for another manufacturer to work with.

The decision comes as a shock. Althea and Ducati have worked together for just three short years, but in that time, they have secured both the World Superbike title and the Superstock 1000 championship with their current riders Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano. It had been expected that the collaboration would continue in 2013, with the two men helping to develop Ducati's new 1199R Panigale superbike machine.

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