Carlos Checa shares the ‘lesson in humility’ Valentino Rossi taught him after joining Yamaha

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Carlos Checa enjoyed a successful career in the premier class of motorcycle racing. He scored his first victory at the 1996 Catalan Grand Prix in just his second season.

It was a fairytale story for Checa, born in Barcelona. Two years later, he notched his second and final MotoGP win – again on Spanish soil, but this time in Madrid.

Across a 15-year career that spanned almost 200 races, he stood on the podium 24 times. For reference, only five riders on the current grid can better that tally.

But some would say he had the misfortune of coming up against Valentino Rossi. Rossi took a shock decision to leave Honda as a world champion in 2003, joining a Yamaha squad that had finished bottom of the constructors’ championship.

But in one of his greatest achievements, he immediately delivered the world championship. And he’d go on to win two more in Yamaha colours.

Checa partnered him for that debut season and felt the full force of his greatness. Rossi amassed 304 points to win the title, more than double the tally of his teammate (117).

Carlos Checa says Valentino Rossi redefined ‘the limit’ at Yamaha MotoGP team

Speaking on the Dura La Vita podcast, Checa reflected on Rossi’s arrival at Yamaha. Their partnership was only brief as he switched to Ducati for 2005.

Former crew chief Antonio Jimenez says Rossi was the champion Yamaha needed. They had built a good bike, but he turned it into a great one.

Likewise, Checa admits that The Doctor ‘opened his eyes’. He thought he’d found the limit, but Rossi showed him that the bike had far more potential.

“It opened my eyes a little,” he said. “He arrived at his best and was able to make a difference. I said to myself, ‘the limit that I thought was here is not the real one, because someone else has come’.

“It woke me up a little bit. It was a lesson in humility.”

Davide Brivio tells a secret about Valentino Rossi and Yamaha

Rossi has been called the ‘Michael Jordan of motorcycles’, and MotoGP has arguably suffered without him. He retired at the end of the 2021 season.

The number 46 rider became an increasingly controversial figure as time went on. For instance, Casey Stoner lost respect for Rossi after one divisive overtake at Laguna Seca in 2008.

Four years later, Rossi infamously kicked out at Honda rider Marc Marquez in Malaysia. Their rivalry has continued even after the former’s retirement.

But former Yamaha man Davide Brivio prefers to focus on the positive side of his legacy. He ‘shouldn’t say’ it, because it departs from a manufacturer-centric way of thinking, but he believes Rossi made the rider the star again.