Carlos Checa believes his World Superbike title revival can continue to gather pace at the Nurburgring this weekend as the 2008 season reaches the mid-way stage.
Having swept to a pair of crushing wins last time out at Miller Motorsports Park, Checa has reduced
Troy Bayliss' once dominant championship lead down to a much more manageable 28 points heading to Germany.
Another relatively level playing field for the riders due to the circuit not being used on the calendar for nine years, Checa believes he has found the sweet spot of his Hanspree Ten Kate Honda and can maintain his winning ways.
It was a fantastic moment to be on top of the podium again in Salt Lake City, he mused. The bike felt good and the tyres were working well for us. I hope we can continue working the same way for the German round and stay in front to fight for more victories.
Elsewhere, team-mates
Ryuichi Kiyonari and
Kenan Sofuoglu will be looking to capitalise on Checa's recent success with a good run at the Nurburgring.
Kiyonari heads back to Europe following a frustrating Miller Motorsports Park round that his pace numbed by a poor qualifying position following issues in practice. Nonetheless, a second place finish in the Suzuka 300km last week will have given him confidence greater confidence on his Honda machine.
I hope to improve on the mistakes I made in the US. I had a few issues in practice and worked hard with my team to improve and run the pace. Unfortunately I made some mistakes in the early laps and didn't get as far up front as I would liked to. I'll try and ride a more consistent race at the Nurburgring and hope to achieve some good results.
Sofuoglu, meanwhile, returns to the country where he established his biking career, the Turk eager to use that experience to help revitalise what has been a tough season.
I am looking forward to racing in Germany this weekend. I started racing in Germany years ago and know the Nurburgring well, even though it has been 4 years since I last raced there.
