FIM CEV 2015 SUPERBIKE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP. AUTÓDROMO DO ALGARVE (PORTUGAL). CARRERA

American Kenny Noyes Takes Win and Second in Portugal to Share Lead in FIM CEV Superbike European Championship Opener

Defending CEV Superbike Champion Kenny Noyes won the inaugral round of the new CEV FIM European Superbike Championship and was second in race two after a couple of paint-swapping battles with archival Carmelo Morales.

Kenny Noyes on the Palmeto Kawasaki ZX10-R and Spaniard Morales (Yamaha R1) completely dominated the weekend at the Autodromo Internacional Algarve outside Portimao, Portugal, with the American taking race on with a last lap pass on the brakes and with Morales taking race two after the two collided on the penultimate lap.

In both races there was a similar pattern. Noyes led for the first thirteen of seventeen laps with Morales following. Both riders know each other’s tactics well and Kenny intended to set a fast enough pace pull clear of Venezuelan Robertino Pietri (Yamaha R1) to ensure that the duel on the final lap would be a two-rider affair.

In Race one Noyes led the first 13 of 17 laps before Morales made his move. The two swapped the lead and a bit of paint but it was the American who made the final pass on the brakes at the end off the Portimao home straight at the start of the last lap and then held on to win by a bike length.

In Race two Noyes again led for the first 13 laps and the American seemed to have the pace to repeat the win from the previous race, but after the two had exchanged the lead with some incidental contact, Kenny went for a gap that was closing and there was hard contact between the front wheel of the Kawasaki and the rear wheel of the Yamaha. Kenny managed to stay on, but lost almost two seconds.With only a lap to go he was only able to recover 1.1 seconds, fastest lap included, and took second by .9.

The season promises more battles like the two in Portugal. Kenny was especially glad to leave Portugal tied for the points lead because in 2014 Portimao was his most difficult track. There is now a long break defore the 10-race season resumed in Catalunya on June 20. This will give the Palmeto team an opportunity to work in private tests before the next battle.

Kenny Noyes.

“Of all the circuits on the schedule, this is the one where we had the most trouble last year, so coming out of here sharing the lead and after seeing that we had a winning pace is huge for us.

I am happy about the win in race one and a little mad at myself for letting race two get away because I was feeling a lot stronger in the second race and knew what Morales’ tactics would be. I should have waited for a better opportunity to pass. It was my mistake. I lost too much time to make up on the last lap, but seeing that we did the fastest lap of the race the last time around shows that we kept the tires working to the end. The tracks coming up are a lot more to my liking, so I´m liking our chances, but not underestimating anybody.