Carlos Checa’s first round of the 2013 season at Phillip Island was bittersweet.
The Ducati Alstare rider spent the pre-season unofficial test in the hospital with intestinal problems, during practice he crashed and then he went on to take the pole position, but in race 1 he had a big crash after missing his braking mark, apparently caused by a sudden pain in his foot (it was only later that he revealed that he suffered two cracked bones and ligament damage) sustaining a concussion that required him to spend the night in a Melbourne hospital.
Nolan who sponsors Checa, has released these photos on their Facebook page of his helmet following the race 1 crash, and while the outside of the lid looks to be just very badly scratched with the back vent slightly ripped out, it’s the inside, with the lining and outer shell removed that you can see the cracks and indentations on the X-Lite X-802R and what it absorbed after Checa’s head impacted with the asphalt.
Scary isn’t it.