Checa out to continue charge.

Two weeks ago at Le Mans Carlos Checa proved once again that he is the hard man of 500 racing. Just a fortnight after a big tumble at his home Grand Prix, the Spaniard led the French GP, eventually taking second behind Marlboro Yamaha Team-mate Max Biaggi after resisting a determined challenge from Valentino Rossi.

The result ignited Checa's season, which had started so unluckily. Beset by a debilitating virus at round one in Japan, Checa was forced out of round two after crashing his Supermotard training bike in Spain.

He returned to action for his home GP three weeks later, still not 100 per cent fit, and suffered another injurious tumble during qualifying. His perseverance finally paid off in France and Checa is out to continue his comeback at Mugello, where he finished a brilliant second last year, taking the World Championship lead (on equal points with eventual champ Kenny Roberts) for the first time in his career.

"We had a bad start but we've come good again," he says. "I think we're out of the bad times and we can see the light again. Everything has changed for us and I'm looking forward to Mugello. Le Mans was a great result for the team, I think everyone is much happier now but I still want to keep improving, I know I can ride faster.

"I feel much, much stronger that I did after my Jerez accident, but I don't just feel better physically, I also feel better on the bike. We've worked hard on settings and tyre choice and I'm getting more feeling from the machine, and that's what you need to ride comfortably and fast."

Checa's crew chief Mike Webb is as impressed as anyone with his man's return to form. "Carlos hasn't really been 100 per cent fit all season," reveals Webb. "He was super fast during testing and everything seemed to be going great but he turned up at Suzuka under the weather, and you've got to be totally fit and healthy to ride a 500 to the limit. Then he had his Supermotard crash, and he wasn't over that by the time he got to Jerez, where he had another big off. It's the same in many walks of life - when things start going bad and you're suffering, they often keep going bad.

"But he was much stronger in France, so he was more relaxed, more focused and giving good feedback. He'll be even stronger at Mugello, pretty much 100 per cent, we hope. When we tested at the track in mid-May he was still hurting and he struggled to wrestle the bike through all the chicanes. To be honest it was a bit of a roar around for him, just to get his confidence back after the crash. But we did do some useful work, focusing on suspension damping. In France we also ran a new front. We'd already tested the tyre pre-season but decided to give it a real good go at Le Mans and he was happy with it."