Kenny Noyes Second in Albacete Kenny Noyes (Palmeto Kawasaki ZX-10R) finished second to reigning Spanish 1000cc Extreme Champion, Carmelo Morales (Laglisse Yamaha R1), at the tight and twisty Albacete Circuit. Only two weeks after taking second with Kawasaki France in the Bol d´Or 24 Hours it was back to serious road racing in the Spanish Nationals for the Barcelona-born American. Starting off the front row (as he has for every race this season), Noyes lost several places heading down to Turn One, but went round the outside of three rivals to slot himself into third behind Morales and Bernat Martinez (T.B. Yamaha). A lap later Noyes was past Martinez and chasing after Morales who had just over a second and a half lead. Over the next ten laps Noyes edged closer until the gap was down to four tenths of a second. At that point the two leaders came upon a gaggle of five backmarkers lost in their personal battle and, as luck would have it, Morales slipped past three in the right-hander after the “Parabolica” and then nipped inside the other two on the entrance to Turn Eight. Noyes still had all five to pass and lost a second and a half to fall over two seconds behind at the end of lap 13 Over the final six laps Morales, reading his board, made no mistakes and took his second win of the season. Kenny closed the gap from three seconds back to two at the flag to take a solid second place well clear of Martinez who just held off Ivan Silva (Inerzia-Inmotec Kawasaki) for third. The fastest lap went to Noyes in 1:30.305. In two weeks time the Spanish Championship moves to the wide and sweeping Circuit of Catalunya, home track for the Barcelona resident, for round five of the seven-round series. Kenny Noyes: 2nd. “I couldn’t quite reel in Carmelo at the end. I made a poor start but was able to get around the outside of three riders on the brakes for Turn One. A lap later I was past Bernat and chasing Carmelo. “Over the first third of the race I was pretty comfortable and able to close up on the Yamaha, but there was a moment there when we came up on five guys who were already a lap down so early and Carmelo was just far enough ahead of me to manage to get past them all before the back straight and I lost a bunch there. But Carmelo was on it today and made no mistakes. “Because the track temperature was low today we went for a softer Michelin and it worked well, dropping off just a bit at the end–but it was the right choice and I got the right advice from Michelin as usual. “This was my best-ever result at Albacete which has always been hard for me. Now we go to Catalunya and with the Kawasaki working really well and a track where Michelin has always been especially good, so we are looking forward to it.”