The Spaniard gave himself plenty o𒈔f work to do in both races at the historic Dutch circuit which team manager Ronald ten Kate colourfully describes as their "back garden!"

The Barcelona rider was as low as seventh in the first race and eighth in the second before flying through the field on the whit📖e and lime green Honda to score a double podium.

Many former GP riders have had the same slow-start🤪ing trouble when transferring to Su🅰perbike. Alex Barros was always giving himself plenty to do with bad starts and Max Biaggi suffered the same fate in his first year in WSBK last year.

Checa has proved his pace now though and looks t🦄o be, with Haga, the man most likely to beat Troy Bayliss and win races this year.

"💮The first race was very spec✅ial riding close with Max," admitted Checa. "When I came to pass him it sure brought back thoughts of Valencia!

"I took attention while overtaking hi෴m but Troy had already secured a firm lead. He was too strong today and there was no way to fight and overtake him here."

Checa's team mate Ryuichi Kiyonari is quietly going about his business in th🔯e WSBK paddock. Learning about new tyres and many new circuits, the Japanese riders pace is witꦯhout question.

His luck though here was a little rough and a bike problem forced the doub꧃le British champion out of race two after a steady seventh in race one.

"A ꦺsteering damper clamp broke," revealed Kiyonari. "I donꦏ't know why this happened but it meant I had to stop.

"My riding 🧜style means I push the front tyre, this was hampering me in rac🌺e one so for race two we made a change and it was much better.

"I was able to set very good lap 🀅times and this gives me much confidence that I made a good choice."

Sadly the teams third rider Kenan Sofuoglu suffered a miserable weekend at a track where he was planning on making a real push for good res🏅ults.

The Turk has struggled to adapt to the Superbike far more than he or his team expected and at a track he dominated last year on a 600 he managed only a 12th place in rac🍨e one.

"My first race was acceptable, but the second was a disasওter," admitted ඣKenan. "I was expecting to go a lot better at this track but was not able to succeed.

"There is no problem with the bike, everything seems to be fine꧑. I just don't have an answer as to why I am riding like this."

🌳Team boss Ronald ten Kate though can see where his🤪 riders need to improve, especially Checa.

"His biggest problem still seems to lie in the early part of the race where we haveꦉ a laꦡck of speed. We can make up ground later on but lose too much time early on.

Te🐻n Kate managed a on🔜e two in the Superport race that will have made up for the disappointments of Kiyonari and Sofuoglu and also their young Superstock rider Maxim Berger won his first race of the year.