Checa set for Qatar test

Carlos Checa plans to complete two punishing race simulation tests in the grueling desert heat in Qatar when he resumes testing in a three-day session in Doha on February 13.

The Qatar test is one of the most important of the winter schedule, with the opening round of the 2007 world championship kicking off back at the Losail International Circuit just three weeks later. 

It will be the perfect chance for riders to simulate actual race conditions and a spokesman for the Spaniard, who recently set the fourth best time on race tyres in Phillip Island, said: “Carlos didn’t want to do a distance run in Phillip Island.

“You learn very little because when the race is back there in October the conditions are completely different. The tyres and settings for the cooler track temperatures are different, but Qatar is completely different.

“The settings you get at that test you will probably use in the first race, and he wants to do two race simulations. He’s fit enough so it should be no problem.”