The two escape the field to duel it out as Heinrich takes a solid third at Hockenheim
Soma Görbe (HRE Team) took his second Northern Talent Cup victory of 2020 in Race 1 of Round 3 at Hockenheim, coming out on top in a wet weather duel against Jakub Gurecky (JRT of Automotodrom Brno). The race was delayed and then shortened to an eight-lap dash, with the two at the front escaping into the distance as points leader Freddie Heinrich (PrüstelGP Junior Team) won the battle for third to keep his perfect podium record intact.
Off the line it was Gurecky who took the holeshot ahead of Görbe, with Lorenz Luciano (Junior Black Knights Team) slotting into third. It was very much a case of carefully does it in the early stages as the riders tested out the conditions, but even by the end of Lap 1 there were two riders well ahead of the field: Gurecky and Görbe. It looked like it would then be a simple duel against each other and the slippery conditions, although there was a twist in the tale yet to come…
Points leader Heinrich was initially down in fifth on Lap 1, and it looked like it would be a first finish off the podium for the German as Jonas Kocourek (JRT of Automotodrom Brno) suddenly bolted forward to join the fight for the rostrum. Catching the lead duo almost impossibly quickly, the Czech rider was right in touch by Lap 4. Heartbreak then hit not long after, however, as Kocourek’s charge came to an end in a crash and the fight for the win once more became a duel.
That’s how it stayed, with nothing in it heading onto the final lap in true NTC style. Gurecky was the man behind but attacked and took the lead through Turn 1, before Görbe hit back himself. And then they went at it again: locked together, the Czech rider attacked once more, but this time the Hungarian was even quicker to respond as he sliced back up the inside. With only a couple of corners to go, it was now or never for Gurecky… but Görbe had hit warp speed.
The number 42 kept it pinned to nail the final part of the lap, tucked in out the final corner and just hanging on. Gurecky tried to pip him to the line, but the Czech rider just fell short. Görbe met the flag first for his second NTC win, bouncing back in style from some heartbreak at the Lausitzring.
Heinrich then came out on top for third after a storming last lap in that battle, the German keeping his lead in the standings as he denied Romanian Jacopo Hosciuc (Hos Racing Team) by just 0.023. Luciano completed the top five as the frontrunners once again proved a few familiar names.
Jakob Rosenthaler (RTR – Racing Team Rosenthaler) took P6 and another consistent haul of points, comfortably ahead the next duel up as Noel Willemsen (NW Racing) in P7 just out-dragged Damian Boessenkool (KNMV). Maksym Kovalov (SP – Moto Junior Team Ukraine) pipped Niklas Kitzbichler (Racing Team Kitzbichler) to ninth as that two-man tug of war completed the top ten in another close-fought NTC battle.
Another notable finish was Tibor Varga (Forty Racing), who had to start from the back after a crash on the initial sighting lap before the race was delayed. The Hungarian sliced through to P12 in only eight laps.
That’s it from Race 1! Race 2 sees the lights go out at 13:30 on Sunday (GMT +2), so make sure to keep up to date across social media, on northerntalentcup.com and motogp.com!
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