The surprise package of the Le Mans race for many was the German team RMT21 Honda, who quietly and methodically got on with the job of recording lap after lap while those around them crashed in the wet or suffered mechanical problems.

The Motors TV MV Agusta showed great potential before retiring from the race, and Maco Moto's Yamaha seemed to improve considerably between the first free practice sessions and the opening hours of the race.

Alabcete Preview

Can local heroes YMES Folch Yamaha take the fight to SERT Suzuki at Albacete? Can Yamaha Austria bounce back and join the fray? Will we see another repeat of the tooth-and-nail scrap between Folch, Moto 38 and Phase One in the closing hours of the Le Mans race?

Folch have a huge home circuit advantage and have always gone well at Albacete. Riders Valcaneras, Tomas and Ribalta will de aiming for the top step of the podium this year. Yamaha Phase One will field Damian Cudlin – fresh from racing in the German Supersport championship – and James Haydon, who is likely to shine in the more familiar short race format.

Yamaha Austria will have the pick of Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Steve Plater for this race and the Dunlop tyres they are now using will hopefully counter the grip problems they've experienced at Albacete in the past.

Bolliger Kawasaki seem to have been the only team to experience “E10” problems at Le Mans, and they'll be hoping to put that behind them in Spain, while their sister team Diablo 666 will be hoping that a dry race suits them better than the Le Mans wet qualifying sessions.

Maco Moto Yamaha will be better prepared for Albacete than they were for Le Mans, and Nowland and Pridmore both have a lot to prove.

Thirty nine teams are listed on the provisional entry list, which shows Kawasaki France as attending (despite the rumours to the contrary), along with Serbian team Marcos Suzuki, two entries from No Limits, while fellow Italian squad MCS reunite former Phase One Juniors Damian Rowley and Calvin Hogan.