It may not have worked at Valencia, where the former
MotoGP star fell while attempting to win his home race at the very last turn - bringing leader Max Neukirchner down with him - but the Spaniard is aiming to be back up front and fighting for his first WSBK win in Ten Kate's home Assen event this weekend.
Checa, who remounted to finish fifth in race one at Valencia before suffering electrical problems while leading race two, said:
"I am looking forward to the race this weekend. I like the track a lot and the atmosphere in Assen is always great. If we can continue the progression we have shown in the last races I am confident we can achieve some good results.
"I don't know what the Ducatis will do in Assen but I expect them to be riding up front. Haga can be strong at Assen and Biaggi will have recovered fully. I expect the Suzuki's to be competitive again as well, so there will be many rivals around.
"For the race in Assen we will mainly concentrate on further developing the chassis and clear the problems we experience with the rear-end chattering.
"There will be some pressure on the team to perform well on their home track, but if we continue the improvement we achieved in the last races we can fight for a win. It will not be easy, but after the Valencia race I have plenty of confidence we can be there," declared Checa, currently fourth in the world championship.
For team-mate
Ryuichi Kiyonari, this weekend's target is a debut WSBK podium after a best-yet fourth in Valencia race two.
"For the team's home race I would like to step on the podium after coming so close to it in Valencia," said the double BSB champion. "I really have developed the taste for it and my confidence with the bike is growing every time out. My lap times have continuously improved over the last races, but I still need to work on my starts and increase my corner speed. I lose too much valuable time in the first laps of the race and then find it hard to close the gap with the frontrunners after the tyres have gone."
