Valencia, 3 November: A brave Carlos Checa checked himself out of hospital at lunchtime to qualify his LCR Honda RC212V in ninth position for tomorrow’s Valencia Grand Prix. It was an impressive performance considering Checa was rushed to hospital by ambulance at midnight last night, suffering severe stomach pain and cramps.

Checa fell ill around 10pm and was initially treated in his motorhome by Clinica Mobile. With almost no sleep overnight, and following initial blood tests this morning, Checa missed free practice this morning but was determined to qualify for his farewell grand prix in Spain. After qualifying, Checa returned to hospital for a second round of blood tests this evening. Pole position went to Dani Pedrosa.

CHECA: Ninth - 1’32.273

CHECA: “Last night I suffered excruciating stomach pains which appears to be from an infection or obstruction in my intestine. I was amazed this morning when I had recovered enough to ride and I’m very satisfied to be ninth on the grid. I will return to the hospital for a secondary blood tests tonight so that doctors can confirm their diagnosis. I can only have a liquid diet and continue to take a medicine, with some mild laxative, and hope that I can complete the 30 laps tomorrow. This is my final grand prix so it is important for me and my fans and friends here. I want to thank the Clinica Mobile staff who treated me at circuit and also remained with me until 3 am in the hospital.”

In final qualifying for the 250cc grand prix Eugene Laverty improved his lap time by 1.3 seconds to qualify in 26th position.

LAVERTY: “Finally in the qualifying session we found a positive direction with the front-end set-up, it’s much better, although I’m still 0.5s off my best time in pre-season testing.”