Carlos Checa's team manager, Ronald ten Kate, has defended the Spaniard's dramatic last-turn lunge for the lead at Valencia on Sunday, which brought down both himself and Max Neukirchner - leaving the German with a broken collarbone.
Both were chasing their first ever WSBK victory, but came together at the last turn after two very different rides. Neukirchner had led the entire race from pole position, while home hero Checa dropped as low as twelfth before charging through the field.
The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider was within striking distance of Neukirchner with just half a lap to go, and as the pair rocked over the hill towards the final off-camber left-hander Checa duly dived for the inside.
The former
MotoGP star put his Fireblade briefly ahead, before the front wheel folded, sending both riders to the ground. Checa sprung quickly to his feet and finished the race in fifth position, but the unlucky Neukirchner was left in the gravel and later diagnosed with a broken collarbone - forcing his withdraw from race two.
Checa later said he was "sorry" for what had happened to Neukirchner, but that "this is racing", a view backed up by ten Kate.
"Checa was gaining a lot of ground in the last laps so when he arrived in the last corner on the rear wheel of the leading man, you can expect any racer to make a passing [attempt] and Checa did just that," said the Dutchman. "Ironically Carlos was nearly taken out of the race himself in Qatar and Phillip Island. Considering all the overtaking he had to do to make his way up front, I don't think you can say he is an aggressive rider."
Lorenzo Lanzi inherited victory after the incident, while Checa himself was on the receiving end of some bad luck in race two - when he was robbed of the lead by an electronic problem, although he still claimed third position.
