2006 sees the 10th birthday of a modern motorcycling legend – the Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird. Since its launch in the last few months of 1996, the machine has been a cornerstone of Honda’s range, offering power, performance, practicality, precision and a quality un-matched by any of its rivals in the last decade.
The Tech 3 Yamaha Team equalled its best result of the 2006 season as Carlos Checa finished in a superb seventh position after an action packed Grande Premio de Portugal at the Estoril circuit. It was a fitting result to help celebrate Carlos' 34th birthday. Besides his excellent seventh place, Carlos also recorded the seventh fastest lap of the race just 0.050 second slower than new championship leader and fellow Yamaha rider, Valentino Rossi and prove the continued advancement that the Dunlop tyres have achieved in recent weeks. For his team mate, James Ellison it was a hard fought battle to finish in 13th position after a bad start saw him involved in an intense tussle with Alex Hoffman. In his endeavours to pass the German, he lost some grip and was forced to play it safe to ensure he brought his Yamaha home to secure more championship points.