Checa remembers Donington nightmare

The Cinzano British Grand Prix at Donington Park two weeks ago marked a return to the scene of Carlos Checa's lowest moment in MotoGP. It was at the Leicestershire circuit in 1998 that the Spanish rider almost lost his life after a crash in the notorious Craner Curves section, which initially seemed innocuous but later resulted in injuries which saw Checa go temporarily blind and require emergency surgery to remove his spleen at Nottingham hospital.

Incredibly, Checa made a miracle recovery and only missed one race – returning to action a little over a month later at the Czech Republic Grand Prix, where he finished seventh. The brave Spaniard would go on to take sixth in his home race at Catalunya and eighth in the final round in Argentina, sealing fourth place in the championship overall and setting up a big-money switch to Yamaha with Marlboro in 1999.

Click on the link at the top of the page to listen to Checa's brave story and watch images of his crash and recovery six years ago.