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Carlos Checa inaugurates Motodays in Rome

Friday, 9 March 2012 11:28 GMT
Carlos Checa inaugurates Motodays in Rome

The fourth edition of Motodays, the Bike and Scooter trade fair in Rome, had its inauguration day yesterday with Spanish rider Carlos Checa on hand as guest of honour to cut the tape.


The 2011 Superbike World Champion was then invited onto the stage together with the Fiera di Roma president Mauro Mannocchi and Infront Motor Sports CEO Paolo Flammini to answer questions from La7 TV journalist Luigi Vignando.


"It's great every time I come to Italy because my bike, sponsors and manager are all Italian," declared Checa, who came to Motodays through Nolan, his helmet company. "The Althea Racing Team has its headquarters close to here so coming to this great event is like being at home and all the fans in this area are very enthusiastic. I'll be 40 years of age soon but it's not your date of birth that counts when you race and I'm still very motivated. Physically I'm in great shape and my win in race 2 after my bad crash in race 1 shows that I still have all the right cards to fight for the title again in 2012. As for me and Biaggi, both of us are ‘old guys' but we're in good shape and it'll be great to battle with him again this year on the track."


Great interest also revolved around another World Superbike protagonist Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport). "I used to come to Rome to see the Colosseum and Forums but it's great to know that Rome now has its own bike show," said Melandri. "I've seen this show grow up and attract lots of visitors in the last four years. As for my 2012 season, it was great to score a podium at the first round but I know it'll be tough to close the gap on the leaders: we'll be doing our best to score some more podiums and even a few wins".


Other Superbike riders scheduled to appear at Motodays include Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK), Raffaele de Rosa (Pro Ride Real Game Honda) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team).