From a press release:

24 Hores de Motociclisme
Circuit de Catalunya
Montmelo, Cataluynya

Third report/ Midnight

Suzuki Holds One-Lap Lead at Midnight in Spanish Marathon

At the stroke of midnight the sky over the Circuit of Cataluyna exploded with a fifteen minute fireworks display…all that plus a full moon and the howling of 52 surviving machines from the 57 that started the 24 Hours of Catalunya

The race after eleven hours still has the Folch 2 Yamaha riders pushing to try and get back on the lead lap with the Catala 1 Suzuki (Fores-Cabana-Monge), but the Catala 2 Suzuki (Lozano-Noyes-Delgado) is still holding a slim one-lap advantage over the Pons Yamaha (Casas-Tizon-Perez) in the battle for third.

Former American dirt tracker Kenny Noyes was one of only three riders lapping in 1’53 during the midnight stint (the others were Dani Ribalta of Folch 2 and Josep Monge of Catala 1). “When I pulled out with a new set of tires and 24 liters on board for my second night run the fireworks started going off. It was hard at first not to watch…then Ribalta came by on the Folch Yamaha and wagged his finger at me. The rest of the session I was right up his pipes and we passed and repassed too. During that run we got another lap on the Pons guys, but we’re only halfway there, ” said Noyes after his fourth stint.

Now come the graveyard shifts…. “servicio nocturno,” the long, hard stints that few see except the riders themselves and a few thousand fans who have left the concert and the all-night circuit bars to catch up on the action,

Standings after 11 Hours of the 24 Hours of Catalunya

1. Catalá 1, Suzuki (Fores-Cabana-Monge) 338 laps

2. Folch 2, Yamaha (Tomas-Hervas-Ribalta) – 1 lap

3. Catala 2, Suzuki (Lozano-Noyes-Delgado) – 4 laps

4. Pons Yamaha (Casas-Tizon-Perez)-1. -6 laps

5. Chalon Yamaha, (Boquet-Baker-Giles) – 14

6. Prolimit Suzuki (Gomez-Olmos-Delgado)- 18

7. Procurve Honda (Stey-Lagrille-Roda) – 18

8. Tumoto Yamaha (Mir-Huguet-Simon) – 18

9. Procurve Honda (Rojas-Carrau-Guiteres) – 19

10. Folch 1 Yamaha (Sanchez-Arque-Martinez) -23

(52 teams are still running)