5 May 2007
Round 2 – Albacete 6hrs Spain
With the disappointment of Le Mans a distant memory the Diablo 666 Team arrived in Albacete for a race which traditionally the Team had done very well at. After a tough qualifying the Team were to start in 18th on the grid.

As Alex Cudlin had recorded the fastest qualifying lap, he was rewarded with being able to start the race. This would be his first race start and he was really looking forward to the buzz that the start always gives the riders.

The flag dropped and to say that Alex was fired up was an understatement. He got a perfect start and was up to 12th at the end of the first lap. By lap 8 he was up to 10th and by lap 11 he was up to 8th. What a star!

Lap 13 saw him being overtaken by the Japanese FCC Honda. This is where he circulated for the majority of his first stint, slowly but surely pulling out a lead on the following riders.

What had also helped Alex were the misfortunes which had hit No. 7, Yamaha Austria, No. 3. Phase 1 Yamaha and No. 6. Zone Rouge Yamaha. All three of these top teams hit problems of one sort or another to drop them down the leaderboard. Yamaha Phase 1 actually took out Yamaha Austria at turn 1!

At the end of the first hour Alex came in to hand over to Olivier Ulmann, in a safe 9th place, it was up to Olivier now to forget the dramas of Le Mans and keep the bike upright for the next hour!

The final hour was to be be a real nail biter. With five bikes all on the same lap the race result was going to be decided on final pit stops and who had enough fuel to reach the flag.

As James Hutchins crossed the line, Diablo 666 were rewarded with their first point of the season.

James had caught and overtaken the No.126, Delta Endurance Kawasaki at the rate of 4 seconds a lap over the last 5 laps. The Team were understandably delighted with the result especially after such a bright start to the race.

Team principle, Miles Hutchins enthused, “Very minor problems and our standard engines really hurt Diablo 666 in this short distance race, but I am delighted for the whole Team having had our first points scoring finish of the year, this will now really kick start our season”.

Diablo 666’s sister team, Bolliger Kawasaki had an excellent result finishing in 5th place behind the French works Kawasaki Team No. 11, the works Suzuki Team No.1, the Spanish Folche Yamaha No. 42, and the Qatar Endurance Racing Team No. 95.

The next race will be held in Suzuka at the end of July

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