Kid was up into 6th, and one corner later he was past the Ducati of Casey Stoner to take 5th. Two corners later, Hayden was past Carlos Checa and into 4th place behind Colin Edwards.The scene seemed set for a repeat of the IRTA Test here in Jerez back

riders, and perhaps especially for Carlos Checa and Shinya Nakano, who left teams to grab a ride on a Honda, the RC212V is not just slow, it's also weak in the turns. The front end lacks feel, and the back end lacks feel, meaning it's tough to get

, dictated. Behind the title duo, John Hopkins, who had shot his Rizla Suzuki to third through the chicane, was dropping back, as rider after rider slipped past. Carlos Checa, who had made good on the brakes into the chicane what he had lost from the starting

triggered a quick game of musical chairs, with Stoner's LCR Honda ride taken by Carlos Checa, and Checa's Tech 3 Yamaha ride taken by Makoto Tamada, who had been previously dumped by Konica Minolta Honda to make way for Shinya Nakano. And most

material, and spent the first half of each race fighting his way up through the field, his performance was actually pretty good. He will be as motivated as Carlos Checa was last season, and on decent material. And once Barros gets the Pramac bike

went from suffering painful crashes to getting on the podium in the space of a year. With Melandri another rider who looked strong at the Sachsenring, before his tires gave up the ghost, the Gresini Honda rider can't be dismissed.Carlos Checa is the man

Honda's Carlos Checa, is one of almost unmitigated woe. Both switched to Honda last year in the hope of getting a much more competitive ride, only to find that Honda had forgotten to make the RC212V competitive. In addition, Nakano is suffering the fate

to fend off, followed by Colin Edwards, Carlos Checa on the LCR Honda, Ant West on the remaining Kawasaki, and the Gresini duo of Marco Melandri and Toni Elias.Not satisfied with having got past Rossi, Chris Vermeulen now set about his team mate. In less

of a long day, holding off the satellite Hondas of Carlos Checa and Shinya Nakano, the Kawasaki of Randy de Puniet and Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen. By the time the pack crossed the line at the end of lap 3, Hayden was over a second behind, and permanently

, and probably more if the Repsol Honda team hadn't imploded so badly. John Hopkins was the first Bridgestone rider home, and right behind Hopper came Carlos Checa, then aboard the Dunlop-shod Tech 3 Yamaha. The question is, can Michelin retain the advantage