Northern Talent Cup: Gurecky wins the 2021 title
Jakub Gurecky put together a stunning season in 2021, starting the year with four wins in the first six races and taking an early point lead. Some of his wet weather performances stood out as something extra special too, with the Czech rider routinely carving out his own postcode in the lead.
The second half of the season has seen Lorenz Luciano and Rossi Moor fight back in the standings, but Gurecky kept calm and carried on to take the Cup in the penultimate race of the season with 49 points in hand. Now there’s one more race to run, and the pressure is off.
Race1
At a wet but sunny Red Bull Ring, Race 1 of the final round for the 2021 Northern Talent Cup delivered a thriller. Allesauto Racing’s Jordan Bartucca emerged to take a maiden win in some style, with the podium then decided at the flag as the field streamed out of the final corner a few riders wide. Loris Veneman (Kahuna Racing) held the upper hand and took second for his first podium, with Tibor Varga (Forty Racing Team) on the box for the first time this season in third, both decided by thousandths. A little off the lead, Jakub Gurecky (JRT Brno Circuit) wrapped up the crown with a solid ride to tenth, more than enough given his lead heading in.
Off the line it was Lorenz Luciano (Junior Black Knights Team) who got the best start from second to take the holeshot, getting ahead of polesitter Rossi Moor (FAIRIUM Next Generation Riders Team) as Gurecky took it steady and dropped back a few places early on – needing little to make sure he could take the Cup. Luciano immediately started making a gap, but Dustin Schneider (PrüstelGP Junior Team) was on the case and the German was soon through into the lead.
Bartucca, meanwhile, had already stormed through into second, leaving Luciano in third. And the Belgian had a Long Lap penalty to take, as did Moor, with both diving in at the start of Lap 2. Bartucca then struck for the lead too, taking over ahead of Schneider, with Varga in third as some favourites begun to emerge from the shuffle.
As the laps ticked on, a lead group of Bartucca, Schneider, Varga, Ferre Fleerackers (B.art Racing), Kevin Farkas (Agria Racing Team), Noel Willemsen (MCA Racing Team) and Kas Beekmans (Team KNMV) were breaking away, with Veneman on the chase. By Lap 9 Fleerackers crashed out, rider ok, but it remained seven in the group as Veneman had won the chase and was now on the case.
As steam rose from the wet track under the beaming sun, Bartucca remained ahead but Veneman was making moves. And as the pack streamed onto the final lap, it was the Dutchman leaving Turn 1 in the lead, with Varga right behind him. But Bartucca had other ideas and the Swiss rider slammed up the inside of both at Turn 3, pulling it off in style to take back over in front.
From there, he got the hammer down and was just able to keep some breathing space to the line. Behind there was none, however, with the podium decided on the line. Veneman took second, with Varga just 0.064 off, but it was Willemsen who really lost out in the shuffle, off the podium by just 0.006 and forced to settle for fourth.
Schneider completed the top five ahead of Farkas, with Beekmans at the back of the front group by the flag.
Race2
The 2021 Northern Talent Cup concluded with a spectacular and sunny final chapter in Spielberg. With Rossi Moor (FAIRIUM Next Generation Riders Team) and Lorenz Luciano (Junior Black Knights Team) fighting for second overall in the standings, there was plenty on the line and their duel didn’t disappoint. Pulling away from the pack in the latter stages, the two went toe-to-toe in a fabulous final decider – with Moor just taking it by thousandths. But then there was drama as he got a penalty for his riding after the flag – dropping him to fourth in the race. That means Luciano wins and takes second overall, Kevin Farkas (Agria Racing Team) is second in the race and Jacopo Hosciuc (Hos Racing Team) slots into third to round out the year.
As the lights went out, Moor took the holeshot from pole but 2021 Cup winner Jakub Gurecky (JRT Brno Circuit) made an early move through. Luciano then got back in the mix, with Farkas another name starting to stand out. Still, it was a huge freight train at the front for much of the first half of the race.
By Lap 10, however, simply being at the head of the train had started to turn into a gap for Moor. The number 92 was pushing to break away, but Luciano was on the case. The Belgian tagged onto the back of the Hungarian and went with him, the two carving out some space for a duel to decide the runner up for 2021.
From thereon out, it was war. Clean, aggressive and a real thriller to end the season, the penultimate lap was already a showstopper. Luciano was ahead over the line, Moor attacked at Turn 1, the 81 responded, the 92 found another answer. The last lap started the same, with Luciano ahead, but Moor struck again at Turn 1. But this time the Belgian shoved it up the inside at Turn 3, and after that Moor seemed to hold off.
The Hungarian stayed glued to the back of the Junior Black Knights Team machine ahead, but waited for his moment: Turn 9. Getting it done and able to keep it around the final corner, it came down to the drag to the line and Luciano pulled out to try and slipstream past but the metres ran out. Moor stayed just millimetres ahead to take the final win of the year, or so he thought. But then he was awarded the penalty, seeing the Belgian take the 25 points.
Behind, what had been a few tenths of gap for Farkas became another freight train but he held on to third over the line and second in the end, with Hosciuc close behind as the Romanian got back in the mix after his Long Laps on Saturday. Moor was classified fourth, and Jonas Kocourek (JRT Brno Circuit) took fifth. Loris Veneman (Kahuna Racing) and Cup winner Gurecky came home in P6 and P7 respectively.
Noel Willemsen (MCA Racing Team) took eighth, with Race 1 winner Jordan Bartucca (Allesauto Racing) shuffled down to P9. Ferre Fleerackers (B.art Racing) completed the top ten.
That’s it for 2021 in the Northern Talent Cup. Over seven rounds we’ve seen some incredible races and performances, as well as some impressive progress throughout the field. What will 2022 bring? Time will tell, but for now: congratulations to the class of 2021 on an impressive learning curve and entertaining season of competition!
