IN
THE
WIND
P26
NOYES CLOSES IN
T
he race for the FIM
CEV Repsol In-
ternational Superbike
Championship will all
go down to the final
race of the season in
Valencia on November
16, with American Ken-
ny Noyes right in the
thick of the champion-
ship battle.
Noyes (Palmeto PL
Kawasaki) equaled
Ivan Silva (Targobank
BMW), his chief rival
in the FIM CEV Repsol
International Superbike
Championship. Both
riders took a second
and a third at The Cir-
cuit of the Algarve, Portimao,
Portugal, and that moved the
American into second place in
the points standings, only four
points behind Silva with a single
race to go. Unlike the two men
who went into Portugal ahead of
him in the points table, Silva and
Santiago Barragan (Stratos Ka-
wasaki), Noyes had never raced
on the challenging Portuguese
circuit.
Race one was won by former
CEV Champion Carmelo Morales
who finally pulled clear of a scrap
with Noyes, Silva and Noyes'
teammate Venezuelan Robertino
Pietri. All four riders exchanged
the lead several times with Noyes
moving from fourth to second on
the last lap.
Noyes jumped quickly into
the lead coming off the second
row in race two, but realized af-
ter a lap that the set up that had
worked so well in race one (rais-
ing ride-height front and rear)
was now causing the bike to run
wide on the final corner due to
increased side wind.
Noyes was losing three to
4/10ths a second a lap in the fi-
nal corner and gradually dropped
back from Morales, Silva and Pi-
etri. Pietri was pushing Silva as
Morales inched away when the
Venezuelan´s Kawasaki struck
gear selection problems, forcing
him to retire. It was his first DNF
of the season. This stroke of bad
luck eliminated him from the title
chase.
"This is the hardest weekend
we have had all year," Noyes
said. "On Friday we were off the
pace and I wasn´t comfortable
with the bike or this new roller-
coaster of a track. The team re-
ally worked for me. They pulled
me through and Michelin helped
me understand what we needed
to do to get drive.
"Now it all goes down to just
one day," Noyes added. "Valen-
cia is not my favorite track, but it
is a great place for a showdown.
This is what you race for, to be
where we are with a single race
to go. It will be a real dogfight."
American Kenny Noyes has
his sights set on the FIM CEV
Repsol International Superbike
Championship.
