Advantage Gurecky and Luciano as the NTC returns to Oschersleben 

So far the two veterans have shared the wins. But now we return to familiar turf for the fastest rider – and rookie – in testing

Thursday, 20 May 2021

Round 1 of the 2021 Northern Talent Cup saw the field pitched against difficult conditions in both races, and in both races there were two riders sharing the top two steps: Lorenz Luciano (Junior Black Knights Team) first, and then Jakub Gurecky (JRT Brno Circuit) as the Czech rider absolutely dominated on Sunday. With a win and a second place apiece so it’s parity in the points at the top too. Now the NTC returns to the venue for pre-season testing, however, where rookie Rossi Moor (FAIRIUM Next Generation Riders Team) laid down the gauntlet in April.

At times the Hungarian was a second clear on the timesheets in testing, but the circumstances of returning for Round 2 are a little different. Moor once again showed his speed at Le Mans and took pole, but when the lights went out to race, he hit some bad luck and trouble. A crash in Race 1 and then a more muted ride to a point in 15th in Race 2 won’t be what he was hoping for, and he’ll doubtless be out to reset and take his place back near the top at Round 2.

Gurecky must be the rider walking tallest back into Oschersleben though. The Czech rider was in another postcode on Sunday and made the tough conditions look easy. Luciano, however, followed up his well-fought win on Saturday with his trademark consistency from last year once again to take a solid 20 points. Will they be the two veterans to beat again?

Jonas Kocourek (JRT Brno Circuit) and Jacopo Hosciuc (Hos Racing Team) were also fast at Le Mans, each taking a podium and a DNF from near the front in Round 1, and they had speed in preseason. They’re now playing catch up a little in the points, but with a much longer 2021 planned there’s time to claw back the deficit. Can they iron out the mistakes and take the fight to Gurecky and Luciano?

The likes of Niklas Kitzbichler (Racing-Team-Kitzbichler), Swiss rookie Lenoxx Phommara (Phommara Team), Kas Beekmans (Team KNMV) and Dustin Schneider (PrüstelGP Junior Team) also put together some solid top fives and flashes of speed at Le Mans, so they’ll want to keep that rolling and home in more on the front, and a few fast faces – like Tibor Varga (Forty Racing Team) – will also be looking for a little less drama at Round 2.

Two more races see the NTC get straight back in action this weekend at Oschersleben, with another 50 points on the table. Will it be status quo at the front or another shake up at the track that hosted preseason testing? We’ll find out on Sunday, with Race 1 at 9:45 (GMT +2) and Race 2 at 14:40.