Valentino Rossi is getting his and Ducati’s ass kicked left and right in MotoGP, while Carlos Checa in a private team but with factory backing is wiping up the World Superbike championship this season.
Checa who helped celebrate Ducati’s 300th Superbike victory in the series the other day at Borgo Panigale gave an interview to Italy’s pink coloured sports daily ‘Gazzetta dello Sport’ were he invited the struggling Valentino Rossi to come race at Imola against him.
The Spaniard on the 1198 in several occasions has been faster than Rossi on the GP11.
1 and this has sparked a lot of anger amongst Ducati fans.
Checa talking about the comparison said, “This has aroused a big debate in Italy and I’m starting to like it.
I’m becoming a little Italian and to be honest, I enjoy being faster than him.
I was at Assen and Silverstone and that means that I’m riding well.
It’s not normal to post the same times with a production based bike as a prototype, that means that Rossi has problems.
He’s the best, he’ll come out of it.
“I’m confident that if he raced with the 1198 he would enjoy it a lot and I would really like to race against him.
On September 25th we’re at Imola and there are no conflicting schedules with MotoGP, so I’d like to officially invite him.
Valentino come at least once.
“Checa also stated that he has no intention of retiring next season and that he’ll be testing Ducati’s new 1199 Superbike model soon and then decide if he’ll stay with the team or accept one of the several offers he has.