Checa: I still have the tyre marks on my leathers...

Carlos Checa strengthened his World Championship position with a fine ride to fourth in oppressive heat at Estoril. The Marlboro Yamaha Team rider avoided the first-turn chaos that claimed Tohru Ukawa, Alex Barros and Norick Abe but did collide with World Champion Kenny Roberts at the same moment.

He completed the first lap down in eighth and had to ride hard to make progress around a track that makes passing extra difficult.

"The first turn was crazy, Roberts came up the inside and he touched my leg, I still have the tyre mark on my leathers," smiled a sweat-drenched Checa. "I didn't see what happened with Abe and the others but I definitely didn't come out of it the best.

"I caught Haga after a couple of laps but had to fight hard to get away from him. I wanted to catch McCoy, I was running a good pace, but I'd lost too much time. The bike was pretty good, after we'd had some problems in warm-up, and we'll do some more work on settings when we stay here for tests tomorrow."