Carlos Checa visited Ducati recently. From the left: Ducati race boss Claudio Domenicali, rider Carlos Checa, GP manager Livio Suppo and yes, the ever-gregarious Ducati Tech Director Corrado Cecchinelli, all in the Ducati museum. image by dean, why not just give sidecars a chance?

This just in from Ducati Corse:

Bologna (Italy): Spanish rider Carlos Checa started off the New Year and his new career in Ducati with a first-ever official visit to the Italian manufacturer's factory in Borgo Panigale.

After positive tests last November in Spain and first contact with the new Ducati Marlboro Team and his new Desmosedici machine, Carlos came to Bologna to personally get to know the Ducati Corse engineers and technicians who will be following him from the factory, the Ducati employees, who gave him a warm welcome, and to see where the most famous Italian twin-cylinder motorbikes in the world are produced.

Before leaving for Sepang, where he will test for the first time in 2005 from January 23-25 together with team-mate Loris Capirossi, Checa will be taking part in the Wroom MotoGP press meeting, where he will spend a few days on the snows of Madonna di Campiglio.