Stopped with a few laps to go, the Hungarian rider takes it by less than a tenth ahead of Zuda and Heinrich
Soma Görbe (HRE Team) made it two different winners in Round 1 of the Northern Talent Cup as the Hungarian rider battled it out in a five-rider fight in Race 2 to take his first victory. The race was red-flagged with a handful of laps remaining, and the number 42 had crossed the line just ahead of Czech frontrunner Stefan Zuda (Motoracing23 Klub V ACR). Race 1 winner Freddie Heinrich (PrüstelGP Junior Team) took third, becoming the only rider in Round 1 to take two podiums.
It was once again Jakub Gurecky (JRT of Automotodrom Brno) who took off in the lead at the start, but Romanian Jacopo Hosciuc (Hos Racing Team) struck soon after to lead as the field headed over the line for Lap 2. The misfortune for the number 59 would then dramatically strike a second time in a day though, with Gurecky once again forced to pull out of the race… leaving Hosciuc in P1 with a little breathing space to boot.
Behind the white machine of the race leader, it was initially a Görbe vs Heinrich battle for third, with another small gap back to Zuda and Lorenz Luciano (Junior Black Knights Team). By Lap 6 it was a definite trio, however, with Hosciuc getting reeled in and then swamped, beginning a three-way melee for the lead. That, in turn, brought Zuda and Luciano right back into it…
Once on the scene, the numbers 23 and 81 got stuck into the fight and it became a five-rider thriller for the win. The laps ticked on and the positions swapped and swapped again, with no clear pace advantage for any single rider. The Red Flag would come soon, however, after a crash for wildcard Thije Ligtermoed (BB64 Academy)… and it had been Görbe ahead. The number 42 had looked to be trying to take charge, and the early stoppage made it official: the Hungarian is the Race 2 winner after an impressive step forward in the afternoon.
A tenth behind, Zuda took his first NTC podium in P2, just 0.073 in arrears over the line when it counted, with Heinrich only another two tenths off the number 42. Hosciuc was forced to settle for fourth, with Race 1 podium finisher Luciano shuffled down to P5 in the classification as he’d been the rear gunner in the group at the time.
Sixth goes the way of Jakob Rosenthaler (RTR – Racing Team Rosenthaler), with the Austrian just ahead of Noel Willemson (NW Racing). Jonas Koucerek (JRT of Automotodrom Brno) takes P8, ahead of Niklas Kitzbichler (Racing-Team-Kitzbichler) and Ukrainian Tymur Kostin (SP – Moto Junior Team Ukraine), who just nabbed the final place in the top ten from Tibor Varga (Forty Racing Team). After all battling it out in the second group, the gaps were infinitesimal.
That’s it from Race 2 and Round 1 at the Sachsenring, with the Northern Talent Cup next back in action at Eurospeedway Lausitz. When? The wait isn’t a long one, with action underway from the 10th to the 13th of September!
